909 Ulla is a large and dark asteroid from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt, that measures approximately 116 kilometers (72 miles) in diameter. It is the parent body and namesake of the Ulla family, which belongs to the larger group of Cybele asteroids. It was discovered on 7 February 1919, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.[1] The X-type asteroid has a rotation period of 8.7 hours and a notably low value for its Jupiter Tisserand's parameter. It was named after Ulla Ahrens, daughter of a friend of the discoverer.[4]
A rotational lightcurve of Ulla was obtained from photometric observations in 2000. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 8.73 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.13 and 0.24 magnitude (U=3).[9] Other photometric period determinations gave concurring results.[13][14]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and the Japanese Akari satellite, Ulla measures 113.13±1.48 and 116.44±2.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0343±0.001 and 0.037±0.001.[7][8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link uses an albedo of 0.0450 and derives a diameter of 116.66 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.65.[5]
^ abLagerkvist, Claes-Ingvar; Erikson, Anders; Lahulla, Felix; De Martino, Mario; Nathues, Andreas; Dahlgren, Mats (January 2001). "A Study of Cybele Asteroids. I. Spin Properties of Ten Asteroids". Icarus. 149 (1): 190–197. Bibcode:2001Icar..149..190L. doi:10.1006/icar.2000.6507.
^Gonano, M.; di Martino, M.; Mottola, S.; Neukum, G. (December 1990). "Physical study of outer belt asteroids". Space Dust and Debris; Proceedings of the Topical Meeting of the Interdisciplinary Scientific Commission B /Meetings B2. 11 (12): 197–200. Bibcode:1991AdSpR..11l.197G. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(91)90563-Y. ISSN0273-1177.