1983 Bok (prov. designation: 1975 LB) is a dark background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 June 1975, by American astronomer Elizabeth Roemer at the Catalina Station of the UA's Steward Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, and named for Bart Bok and Priscilla Fairfield Bok.[2][7] The carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.7 hours and measures approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) in diameter.
Bok orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.4–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,550 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first observation was taken at the Argentinian La Plata Astronomical Observatory in 1950, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 25 years prior to its discovery.[7]
This minor planet was named after the astronomer couple Bart Bok (1906–1983) and Priscilla Fairfield Bok (1896–1975), in recognition for their contribution to astrometry of small Solar System bodies. Both astronomers studied the structure of the southern Milky Way and fostered astronomy in the Southern Hemisphere.
Bok was the first numbered discovery made with the Stewart Observatory's 90-inch Bok Telescope. The body's name was proposed by the discovering astronomer and by Alan C. Gilmore from New Zealand.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 April 1977 (M.P.C. 4158).[8]
Bok has been characterized as a C-type asteroid.[4]
In October 2014, the first rotational lightcurve for this body was obtained by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battitsa Casalnuovo at the Eurac Observatory (C62) in Bolzano, Italy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 10.70 ± 0.01時間で、0.46等級の比較的高い明るさの変化( U=3- ) が見られました。[ 4 ]
イタリアの天文学者はまた、その表面のアルベドを0.06、直径を直径は 15 ± 3キロメートルで、 NASA の広視野赤外線探査衛星NEOWISEミッションによる調査結果と一致しており、直径は 15.7 キロメートル、アルベドは 0.034 であった。[ 5 ]
Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Linkは、石質小惑星(0.20)と炭素質小惑星(0.057)の中間値であるアルベド0.10を仮定し、半長軸が2.6~2.7 AUの小惑星では、絶対等級 13.1を使用して直径が10.08キロメートルと非常に小さく計算されます。[ 3 ]