52266 Van Flandern

52266 Van Flandern
Discovery [1]
Discovered by C. S. Shoemaker
E. M. Shoemaker
Discovery site Palomar Obs.
Discovery date 10 January 1986
Designations
MPC designation 52266 Van Flandern
Named after
 Tom Van Flandern
(astronomer)[2]
1986 AD · 1975 CJ
1998 QX81 · 2002 QQ
main-belt · Phocaea [3]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 40.02 yr (14,619 days)
Aphelion 2.8484 AU
Perihelion 1.8207 AU
2.3345 AU
Eccentricity 0.2200
3.57 yr (1,303 days)
55.105°
Inclination 23.711°
302.18°
229.67°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 4.42±0.83 km[4]
4.60 km (calculated)[3]
9.89±0.01 h[5]
9.890±0.003 [6]
9.65±0.06 h[7]
9.8816±0.0076 h[8]
0.249±0.163[4]
0.23 (assumed)[3]
S [3]
13.9[1]

    52266 Van Flandern, provisional designation 1986 AD, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 4.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomers Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S. Palomar Observatory, California, on 10 January 1986.[2]

    The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,303 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 24 degrees from the plane of the ecliptic.[1]

    In 2011 and 2013, three photometric light-curve analysis at the Via Capote Observatory in California, the Palomar Transient Factory, as well as at the Australian Oakley Southern Sky Observatory, rendered a well-defined rotation period between 9.88 and 9.89 hours with a small brightness amplitude of 0.01 or lower in magnitude.[5][6][8] Light-curves with such low amplitudes typically indicate that the asteroid has a nearly spheroidal shape. A provisional, fourth light-curve observation by astronomer René Roy at Blauvac Observatory, France, in 2011, agrees reasonably well.[7]

    According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid's surface has an albedo of 0.25. WISE also finds a diameter of 4.4 kilometers for the stony asteroid.[4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a slightly lower albedo of 0.22 with a corresponding diameter of 4.6 kilometers, as the lower the body's reflectivity (albedo), the larger its diameter, for a given absolute brightness (absolute magnitude) of 13.9.[1][4]

    In 2009, the minor planet was named after American astronomer Tom Van Flandern (1940–2009), who predicted and comprehensively analyzed lunar occultations at USNO, and published pioneering papers on the dynamics of binary minor planets in the 1970s. Van Flandern helped improve the accuracy of the Global Positioning System and established Meta Research to support alternative cosmological ideas.[2]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 52266 Van Flandern (1986 AD)" (2015-02-17 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved January 2016.
    2. 1 2 3 "52266 Van Flandern (1986 AD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 2016.
    3. 1 2 3 4 "LCDB Data for (52266) Van Flandern". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved January 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 4 Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). "Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters 759 (1): 5. arXiv:1209.5794. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759L...8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8. Retrieved January 2016.
    5. 1 2 Brinsfield, James W. (July 2011). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Via Capote Observatory: 1st Quarter 2011". The Minor Planet Bulletin 38 (3): 154–155. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38..154B. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved January 2016.
    6. 1 2 Ditteon, Richard; West, Josh (October 2011). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Oakley Southern Observatory: 2011 January thru April". The Minor Planet Bulletin 38 (4): 214–217. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38..214D. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved January 2016.
    7. 1 2 Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (52266) Van Flandern". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved January 2016.
    8. 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 January 2016.

    External links


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