1776 Kuiper
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by |
Palomar–Leiden survey C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 1776 Kuiper |
Named after | Gerard Kuiper[2] |
|
2520 P–L · 1930 EB 1931 KK · 1938 SU 1952 DQ2 · 1963 FJ | |
| main-belt | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.01 yr (31415 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1444 AU (470.40 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 3.0620 AU (458.07 Gm) |
| 3.1032 AU (464.23 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.013290 |
| 5.47 yr (1996.7 d) | |
| 290.69° | |
| 0° 10m 49.08s / day | |
| Inclination | 9.4930° |
| 176.68° | |
| 304.33° | |
| Earth MOID | 2.08167 AU (311.413 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.8388 AU (275.08 Gm) |
| Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 3.200 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 36 km |
Mean radius | 17.98 ± 0.8 km |
| 0.0544 ± 0.005 | |
| 11.3 | |
|
| |
1776 Kuiper, also designated 2520 P–L, is an asteroid from the asteroid belt, about 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on September 24, 1960 by Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, San Diego, California. The asteroid has an exceptionally low eccentricity of only 0.01 and orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.06–3.10 AU once every five and a half years (1,997 days). Its geometric albedo of 0.054 has been measured by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS.[1]
The designation P–L stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey of minor planets in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Cornelis van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld at Leiden Observatory. The trio are credited with several thousand asteroid discoveries.
The asteroid is named after Dutch–American astronomer Gerard Kuiper (1905–1973), initiator of the Palomar-Leiden survey. He was a well-known authority in the field of planetary science and director at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and at Yerkes Observatory. He discovered Miranda and Nereid, satellites of Uranus and Neptune, respectively. The Mercurian, Martian and lunar craters Kuiper bear his name and the third zone of the Solar System, the Kuiper belt, is named after him.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1776 Kuiper (2520 P-L)" (2015-09-21 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1776) Kuiper. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 142. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved October 2015.
External links
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- 1776 Kuiper at the JPL Small-Body Database
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