1859 Kovalevskaya

1859 Kovalevskaya
Discovery
Discovered by	L. V. Zhuravleva
Discovery site	Crimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date	4 September 1972
Designations
MPC designation	(1859) Kovalevskaya
Named after	Sofia Kovalevskaya; (Russian mathematician)
Alternative designations	1972 RS2 · 1932 RD; 1941 BQ · 1942 HH; 1949 PU · 1949 QW; 1950 TM4 · 1953 EK1; 1966 PC1 · A915 TK
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer)
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	101.37 yr (37,027 days)
Aphelion	3.5272 AU
Perihelion	2.8909 AU
Semi-major axis	3.2091 AU
Eccentricity	0.0991
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.75 yr (2,100 days)
Mean anomaly	38.805°
Mean motion	0° 10m 17.04s / day
Inclination	7.7011°
Longitude of ascending node	343.30°
Argument of perihelion	244.92°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	34.40 km (calculated); 44.634±0.097; 46.02±1.6 km (IRAS:14); 48.798±0.424 km
Synodic rotation period	11.1084±0.0066 h
Geometric albedo	0.0427±0.0077; 0.053±0.006; 0.057 (assumed); 0.0694±0.005 (IRAS:14)
Spectral type	C
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.6 · 10.7 · 11.05 · 11.1084±0.0066 (R)

1859 Kovalevskaya, provisional designation 1972 RS₂, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 40 kilometers in diameter.

It was discovered on 4 September 1972, by Russian–Ukrainian astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravleva at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after Russian mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya.