1030 Vitja

Modelled shape of Vitja from its lightcurve
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	V. Albitzkij
Discovery site	Simeiz Obs.
Discovery date	25 May 1924
Designations
MPC designation	(1030) Vitja
Named after	Viktor Zaslavskij[2] (discoverer's relative)
Alternative designations	1924 RQ · 1961 AF 1964 TB
Minor planet category	main-belt[1][3] · (outer)[4] background[5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	93.01 yr (33,972 d)
Aphelion	3.5067 AU
Perihelion	2.7357 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1212 AU
Eccentricity	0.1235
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.51 yr (2,014 d)
Mean anomaly	38.994°
Mean motion	0° 10m 43.32s / day
Inclination	14.780°
Longitude of ascending node	187.86°
Argument of perihelion	6.2246°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	52.72±14.29 km[6] 58.38±0.79 km[7] 59.717±0.226 km[8] 64.13±2.0 km[9] 65.94±0.68 km[10] 69.139±1.074 km[11]
Synodic rotation period	5.7014±0.0003 h[12] 6.332±0.001 h[13]
Geometric albedo	0.0280±0.0121[11] 0.031±0.005[10] 0.0326±0.002[9] 0.040±0.001[7] 0.05±0.06[6]
Spectral type	P[11] · C[14] C (assumed)[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.14±0.24[14] 10.30[3][4][7][9][10][11] 10.37[6]

1030 Vitja, provisional designation 1924 RQ, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 25 May 1924, by Soviet–Russian astronomer Vladimir Albitsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula.^[1] The asteroid was named in honor of Viktor Zaslavskij (1925–1944), a relative of the discoverer.^[2]

Vitja is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.^[5] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.7–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,014 days; semi-major axis of 3.12 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic.^[3] The asteroid's first recorded observation was made a week after its official discovery at Heidelberg Observatory in June 1924, while its observation arc begins more than seven years later at Lowell Observatory in October 1931.^[1]

This minor planet was named by the discoverer after his relative Viktor "Vitja" Viktorovich Zaslavskij (1925–1944), who died during World War II. He was the nephew of Spiridon Zaslavskij, the brother-in-law of the discoverer, after whom the asteroid 1330 Spiridonia was later named.^[2] No accurate naming citation was given for this asteroid in The Names of the Minor Planets. The author of the Dictionary of Minor Planets, Lutz Schmadel, researched the naming circumstances himself (LDS).^[2][15]

Vitja has been characterized as a primitive P-type and carbonaceous C-type asteroid by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Pan-STARRS photometric survey, respectively.^[11][14] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes it to be a very dark C-type asteroid.^[4]

In July 2007, a rotational lightcurve of Vitja was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 5.7014 hours and a brightness variation of 0.18 magnitude (U=3-).^[12] Another observation by Andrea Ferrero at the Bigmuskie Observatory (B88) in Italy showed a period of 6.332 with an amplitude of 0.21 (U=2).^[13]

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE telescope, Vitja measures between 52.72 and 69.139 kilometers (32.759 and 42.961 mi) in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0280 and 0.05.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]}

CALL adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0326 and a diameter of 64.13 kilometers (39.85 mi) based on an absolute magnitude of 10.3.^[4]

Between 2007 and 2021, 1030 Vitja has been observed to occult four stars.

• Lightcurve Database Query (LCDB), at www.minorplanet.info
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Geneva Observatory, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1030 Vitja at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 1030 Vitja at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters