1807 Slovakia


1807 Slovakia, provisional designation, is a stony asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 August 1971, by Slovak astronomer Milan Antal at Skalnaté pleso Observatory in the High Tatras mountains of Slovakia and named after the Slovak Republic.

Orbit and classification

The asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.
It was first identified as at Heidelberg Observatory in 1928, extending the body's observation arc by 43 years prior to its official discovery observation at Skalnaté pleso.

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Slovakia is a common stony S-type asteroid.

Slow rotator

Slovakia has an exceptionally long rotation period of 308 hours with a high brightness variation of 1.10 magnitude. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts a period of 308.6 hours with an amplitude of 1.1 magnitude.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Slovakia measures 9.14 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.31, while CALL assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 9.40 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.5

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of the now independent state of Slovakia, the country where the discovering observatory is located. At the time Slovakia was still part of the socialistic republic of Czechoslovakia that was formed after World War I and lasted until the end of the Cold War . The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 15 June 1973.