5677 Aberdonia

5677 Aberdonia, provisional designation 1987 SQ1, is a stony Koronis asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 September 1987, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[2] The asteroid was named for the Scottish University of Aberdeen.[3]

Orbit and classification

The S-type asteroid is a member of the Koronis family, a group consisting of about 200 known bodies with nearly ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 9 months (1,743 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]

In 1954, a first precovery was obtained at Palomar Observatory, extending the body's observation arc by 33 years prior to its official discovery at Anderson Mesa.[2]

Physical characteristics

Lightcurves

In October 2011, a rotational lightcurve of Aberdonia was obtained from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 5.0813 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 magnitude (U=2).[7]

Diameter and albedo

According to the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Aberdonia measures 8.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.25,[5][6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 and calculates a diameter of 8.2 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.6.[4]

Naming

This minor planet was named for the Scottish University of Aberdeen on its 500th anniversary in 1995. James Clerk Maxwell and George Paget Thomson are the university's best known former holders of chairs of natural philosophy.[3]

The university is also known for its first chair of medicine in the English-speaking world, and for having taught astronomy already in the late 16th century.[3] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 15 February 1995 (M.P.C. 24765).[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 5677 Aberdonia (1987 SQ1)" (2017-03-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "5677 Aberdonia (1987 SQ1)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(5677) Aberdonia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (5677) Aberdonia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 481. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5373. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (5677) Aberdonia". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  6. ^ a b Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  8. ^ Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  9. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2016.

External links

  • Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
  • Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
  • Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
  • Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (5001)-(10000) – Minor Planet Center
  • 5677 Aberdonia at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
    • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
  • 5677 Aberdonia at the JPL Small-Body Database Edit this at Wikidata
    • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
  • JPL SBDB
  • MPC