12999 Toruń

12999 Toruń
Discovery [1]
Discovered by E. Bowell
Discovery site Anderson Mesa Station
Discovery date 30 August 1981
Designations
MPC designation 12999 Toruń
Named after
 Toruń (Polish city)[2]
1981 QJ2 · 1957 TF
1998 QL8
main-belt · Baptistina [3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 57.94 yr (21,164 days)
Aphelion 2.7042 AU
Perihelion 1.8426 AU
2.2734 AU
Eccentricity 0.1894
3.43 yr (1,252 days)
355.91°
0° 17m 15.108s / day
Inclination 5.7713°
152.34°
210.91°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 3.523±0.136 km[4]
7.96 km (calculated)[3]
3.5521±0.0026 h[5]
0.3921±0.0275[4]
0.057 (assumed)[3]
C [3]
13.8[1]
14.22[3]
13.773±0.002 (R)[4]

    12999 Toruń, provisional designation 1981 QJ2, is a carbonaceous Baptistina asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 August 1981, by British–American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona.[2]

    The C-type asteroid belongs to the small Baptistina family. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,252 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the plane of the ecliptic.[1] Due to a precovery obtained at the U.S Goethe Link Observatory, the asteroid's observation arc already begins in 1957.[2]

    Monument of this asteroid in Toruń, Poland

    A rotational light-curve was obtained from photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory in California. The provisional light-curve gave a rotation period of 3.5521±0.0026 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.09 in magnitude (U=1).[5]

    According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 3.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a very high albedo of 0.39.[4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) disagrees with the findings by the space-based mission and assumes a dark albedo of 0.057, with a correspondingly larger diameter of 8.0 kilometers.[3] As with 1696 Nurmela, another member of the Baptistina family, CALL assumes this asteroid's composition (also see carbonaceous chondrites) to differ significantly from the much brighter asteroid 298 Baptistina, which is considered to be an interloper in its own family.

    In 2008, the minor planet was named after the city of Toruń, Poland. It is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, significant to Polish and European history, a UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town, and the main site of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, where its observatory at Piwnice, the largest in Poland, is located. The naming followed a suggestion by Polish astronomer T. Michałowski.[2]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 12999 Torun (1981 QJ2)" (2015-09-12 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
    2. 1 2 3 4 "12999 Torun (1981 QJ2)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved April 2016.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (12999) Torun". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved April 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 4 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 April 2016.
    5. 1 2 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 April 2016.

    External links


    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.