2807 Karl Marx

2807 Karl Marx, provisional designation Template:Mp, is a carbonaceous Dorian asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1969, by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on the Crimean peninsula.<ref name="MPC-Karl Marx" /> The asteroid was later named for the German philosopher Karl Marx.<ref name="springer" />

Orbit and classification

Dora family

Karl Marx is a member of the Dora family (Template:Small), a well-determined asteroid family of more than 1,200 known members with a carbonaceous composition. The family's namesake is 668 Dora. It is alternatively known as the "Zhongolovich family", named after its presumably largest member 1734 Zhongolovich. The Dora family may also contain a subfamily.<ref name="Broz-2013" /><ref name="Nesvorny-2014" />Template:Rp

Orbit and observation arc

It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.3–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,707 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata" />

The asteroid was first identified as Template:Mp at Heidelberg Observatory in 1924. Its first used observation is a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in 1954, extending the body's observation arc by 15 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnyj.<ref name="MPC-Karl Marx" />

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Karl Marx is classified as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid.<ref name="jpldata" /> According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Karl Marx measures 16.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.057.<ref name="Masiero-2011" />

Lightcurves

As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Karl Marx has been obtained. The body's rotation period and shape remains unknown.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="lcdb" />

Naming

This minor planet was named after German philosopher, economist and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx (1818–1883), student of the theories about society, economics and politics, and author of Das Kapital, the foundational theoretical text of modern communist thought.<ref name="springer" /> The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 July 1983 (Template:Small).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" />

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Template:Webarchive)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• Template:AstDys
• Template:JPL small body