Major General James G. Blunt

3401 Vanphilos, provisional designation 1981 PA, is a stony, eccentric asteroid and sizeable Mars-crosser, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 August 1981, by and at Harvard's Oak Ridge Observatory (Agassiz Station) in Massachusetts, United States.[3]

Orbit and classification

Vanphilos orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.5–3.2 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,330 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.36 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] In 1946, it was first identified as 1946 DA at the Finnish Turku Observatory, extending the body's observation arc by 35 years prior to its official discovery at Harvard.[3]

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS taxonomy, Vanphilos is characterized as a common S-type asteroid.[1]

Rotation period

In February and March 2008, three rotational lightcurves of Vanphilos were obtained from photometric observations by astronomers Petr Pravec, James W. Brinsfield and Robert Stephens. Light-curve analysis gave a well defined rotation period of 4.225 and 4.226 hours, respectively, with a change in brightness between 0.50 and 0.54 magnitude (U=3/3/3).[7][8][a]

In August 2014, astronomer Brian Warner derived a concurring period of 4.227 hours with an amplitude of 0.62 magnitude from his observations taken at the Palmer Divide Station in Colorado (U=3).[9] Light-curve plots were published on-line by the Ondřejov Observatory and the Center for Solar System Studies.[b][c]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Vanphilos measures 7.02 and 7.10 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.377 and 0.31, respectively.[5][6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 10.30 kilometers, as the lower the body's albedo (reflectivity), the larger its diameter, at a constant absolute magnitude.[4]

Naming

This minor planet was named for Vanessa Hall and Philip Osborne, by astronomer G. V. William to celebrate their marriage on 3 August 1991.[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 August 1991 (M.P.C. 18644).[11]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Pravec (2008) web: rotation period 4.2261±0.0005 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.51 mag and quality code of 3. Summary figures for (3401) Vanphilos at Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) and Pravec, P.; Wolf, M.; Sarounova, L. (2008) at Ondřejov Observatory
  2. ^ Online published Lightcure plots of (3401) Vanphilos at the Center for Solar System Studies (CS3) in 2014
  3. ^ Online published lightcure plot of (3401) Vanphilos at Ondřejov Observatory in 2008

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3401 Vanphilos (1981 PA)" (2016-07-09 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(3401) Vanphilos". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3401) Vanphilos. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 283. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3401. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c "3401 Vanphilos (1981 PA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (3401) Vanphilos". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117. S2CID 9341381. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Kramer, E. A.; Grav, T.; et al. (September 2016). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year Two: Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (3): 12. arXiv:1606.08923. Bibcode:2016AJ....152...63N. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/63.
  7. ^ a b Brinsfield, James W. (September 2008). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Via Capote Observatory: First Quarter 2008". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 35 (3): 119–122. Bibcode:2008MPBu...35..119B. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b Stephens, Robert D. (September 2008). "Asteroids Observed from GMARS and Santana Observatories - Late 2007 and Early 2008". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 35 (3): 126–128. Bibcode:2008MPBu...35..126S. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  9. ^ a b Warner, Brian D. (January 2015). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2014 June-October". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 42 (1): 54–60. Bibcode:2015MPBu...42...54W. ISSN 1052-8091. PMID 32457970. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  10. ^ 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. S2CID 53493339. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  11. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 January 2017.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3401_Vanphilos