1608 Muñoz

Orbit and classification

Muñoz is a member of the Flora family (402), a giant asteroid clan and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,203 days; semi-major axis of 2.21 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first imaged on a precovery taken at the Lowell Observatory in November 1948, extending the body's observation arc by 3 years prior to its official discovery observation.

Naming

This minor planet was named in memory of , who was an assistant at the La Plata Observatory in the department of extra-meridian astronomy. Muñoz was involved in computational and observational work on minor planets for many years and also took an active part in site testing for the Argentine telescope, also known as the 85-inch or 2.15-meter Jorge Sahade Telescope (also see ). The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 August 1980 (M.P.C. 5449).

Physical characteristics

Being a Florian asteroid, Muñoz is likely a stony, relatively bright S-type asteroid.

Rotation period

Muñoz is a target of the Photometric Survey for Asynchronous Binary Asteroids (BinAstPhot Survey) led by astronomer Petr Pravec at the Ondřejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. In September 2017, two rotational lightcurves were obtained from photometric observations by Pravec in collaboration with Serbian astronomer Vladimir Benishek at Belgrade Observatory, who observed the asteroid over three subsequent nights at Sopot Astronomical Observatory . Analysis of the bimodal lightcurve gave a well-defined, nearly identical rotation period of and hours, respectively, with a brightness amplitude of 0.36 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Muñoz measures between 6.15 and 7.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.265 and 0.40. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the principal body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 7.82 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.7.

Notes

References

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