1481 Tübingia

1481 Tübingia, provisional designation, is a dark asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 34 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 February 1938, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany, and named for the German city of Tübingen.

Orbit and classification
Tübingia orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.9–3.1 AU once every 5 years and 3 months (1,916 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as at the U.S. Taunton Observatory in 1907. The asteroid's first used observation was made at Heidelberg in 1933, extending the body's observation arc by 5 years prior to its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics
The asteroid has been characterized as a C-type asteroid.

Rotation period
In October 2008, a rotational lightcurve of Tübingia was obtained form photometric observations by James W. Brinsfield at Via Capote Observatory in California. Analysis gave a longer-than average rotation period of 24 hours with a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude (U=2). The result supersedes a much longer period obtained in the 1980s.

Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Tübingia measures between 33.26 and 40.12 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.082 to 0.117. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results from IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.117 and a diameter of 33.26 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 10.35.

Naming
This minor planet was named after Tübingen, city in southern Germany and birthplace of astronomer Johannes Kepler. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center in April 1953 (M.P.C. 909).