4364 Shkodrov


4364 Shkodrov, provisional designation, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 November 1978, by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Schelte Bus at the Palomar Observatory in California. The asteroid was named after Bulgarian astronomer Vladimir Shkodrov.

Orbit and classification

Shkodrov is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Flora family, a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the asteroid belt.
It orbits the Sun in the inner main belt at a distance of 2.0–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 7 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Palomar Observatory, two nights prior to its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Shkodrov is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid, which is also the overall spectral type for members of the Flora family.

Rotation period

In 2010 and 2013, two rotational lightcurves of Shkodrov have been obtained by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis of the photometric observations in the R-band gave a rotation period of 17.256 and 17.302 hours with a brightness variation of 0.40 and 0.35 magnitude, respectively. In 2015, Petr Pravec published a refined period of 17.3233 hours and an amplitude of 0.42 magnitude.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Shkodrov measures 4.21 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.24. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an identical albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the Flora family's parent body – and calculates a diameter of 4.94 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.7.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Bulgarian astronomer Vladimir Shkodrov, professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and founder of the Bulgarian National Observatory. The asteroid also honors his collaboration with the discoverers on the International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey despite difficult times. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 August 1991.