1263 Varsavia, provisional designation 1933 FF, is an
asteroid from the central region of the
asteroid belt, approximately 40 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 March 1933, by Belgian astronomer
Sylvain Arend at
Uccle Observatory in Belgium.[18] It is named for the city of
Warsaw.[2]
Orbit and classification
Varsavia orbits the Sun in the
central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–3.2
AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,589 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.19 and an
inclination of 29
° with respect to the
ecliptic.[1] As no
precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made, the body's
observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Uccle in 1933.[18]
In April 2003, the first rotational
lightcurve of Varsavia was obtained by American astronomer
Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Station in Colorado. Revised data gave a well-defined
rotation period of 7.1639 hours with a brightness variation of 0.15
magnitude (
U=3).[12][a]
Another well defined period of 7.1680 hours (Δ0.15 mag) was derived from photometric observations taken by Australian astronomer Julian Oey at Leura Observatory in February 2011 (
U=3).[b] Concurring results were also obtained by
Robert Stephens in April 2003 (7.231 h; Δ0.15 mag; U=2),[14] from the
Palomar Transient Factory in June 2012 (7.1659 h; Δ0.28 mag; U=2),[13] and by the "Spanish Photometric Asteroid Analysis Group" (OBAS) in May 2016 (7.163 h; Δ0.12 mag;
U=3-).[11] Observations made with the
TESS space telescope in 2018 gave a period of 7.1615 hours with an amplitude of 0.05 magnitude (
U=2).[19]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite
IRAS, the Japanese
Akari satellite, and NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent
NEOWISE mission, Varsavia measures between 34.15 and 51.44 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an
albedo between 0.042 and 0.10.[4][5][6][9][10] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0874 and adopts a diameter of 41 kilometers, obtained from modeled data and a directly observed
minor planet occultation of a star.[3][7]
On July 18, 2003, a stellar occultation by 1263 Varsavia was observed at multiple sites. The measured chords yielded an equivalent diameter of 41±8 km. The profile best matched a spin vector of (λp, βp) = (341°, −14°) in
elliptical coordinates.[20]
Naming
This
minor planet was named by
Tadeusz Banachiewicz after the Latin name of the city of
Warsaw, capital of Poland. The naming citation includes a note of thanks for the support given by the city's observatory.[2] Naming citation was first published in German by Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (RI 843).[2]
Notes
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abLightcurve plot of 1263 Varsavia, Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2003)