2348 Michkovitch, provisional designation 1939 AA, is a presumed carbonaceous Erigone asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered by Serbian astronomer Milorad Protić at Belgrade Observatory on 10 January 1939.[7] The asteroid was named after Serbian astronomer Vojislav Mišković.[2]
Orbit and classification
Michkovitch is a member of the Erigone family, named after 163 Erigone, its largest member and namesake.[3] It is a rather young cluster (170–280 My) of dark carbonaceous asteroids in the inner asteroid belt, which otherwise consists mostly of stony asteroids.[8]
This minor planet was named by the discoverer after his professor Vojislav Mišković (1892–1976), first director of the new Belgrade Observatory and founder of the Astronomical Institute at SANU.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 7 March 1985 (M.P.C. 9477).[9]
Physical characteristics
Rotation period
A 2011-published rotational lightcurve of Michkovitch was obtained from photometric observations by Australian amateur astronomer David Higgins. Lightcurve analysis gave a longer-than average rotation period of 28 hours with a brightness variation of 0.12 in magnitude (U=2).[a]
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Michkovitch measures 4.6 and 4.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an outstanding albedo of 0.84 and 0.92, respectively.[4][5]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link strongly disagrees with the result obtained by the space-based observatory and assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a much larger diameter of 15.4 kilometers, as the lower the body's albedo (reflectivity), the larger its diameter at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).[3]
