1392 Pierre, provisional designation 1936 FO, is a dark, dynamical Eunomian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 26 kilometers (16 mi) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 March 1936, by astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa.[1] The asteroid was named after the discoverer's nephew, Pierre.[2]
It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.1–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,538 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The asteroid was first observed as A917 UB at Simeiz Observatory in October 1917. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Algiers in March 1936.[1]
In August 1984, a first rotational lightcurve of Pierre was obtained from photometric observations with the ESO 1-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 18 hours with a brightness variation of 0.09 magnitude (U=2).[11] A poorly rated lightcurve by Pierre Antonini in January 2007, gave a period of 24 hours with an amplitude of 0.05 magnitude.[14]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Pierre measures between 26.16 and 28.94 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.054.[7][8][9][10] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0519 and a diameter of 26.44 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.72.[5][8]
^ abcdUsui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)