Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | J. Schubart |
Discovery site | Sonneberg Obs. |
Discovery date | 29 July 1960 |
Designations | |
(2000) Herschel | |
Pronunciation | /ˈhɜːrʃəl/ [2] |
Named after | William Herschel [3] (German-British astronomer) |
1960 OA ·1934 NX | |
main-belt [1] [4] ·(inner) [5] Phocaea [6] | |
Orbital characteristics [4] | |
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 84.08 yr (30,712 d) |
Aphelion | 3.0885 AU |
Perihelion | 1.6708 AU |
2.3796 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.2979 |
3.67 yr (1,341 d) | |
293.69° | |
0° 16m 6.6s / day | |
Inclination | 22.819° |
291.92° | |
130.51° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 14.768±0.348 km [7] [8] 16.15±3.11 km [9] 16.86±1.17 km [10] 17.385±0.173 km [11] |
130±2 h [5] [12] | |
0.1870 [11] 0.197 [10] 0.24 [9] 0.256 [7] [8] | |
Tholen = S [4] [5] B–V = 0.893 [4] U–B = 0.494 [4] | |
11.25 [1] [4] [5] [7] [10] [11] 11.42 [9] | |
2000 Herschel, provisional designation 1960 OA, is a stony Phocaea asteroid and a tumbling slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) in diameter. It was discovered 29 July 1960, by German astronomer Joachim Schubart at Sonneberg Observatory in eastern Germany. [1] The S-type asteroid has a long rotation period of 130 hours. [5] It was named after astronomer William Herschel. [3]
Herschel is a member of the Phocaea family ( 701 ), [6] a large family of stony asteroids with nearly two thousand known members. [13] : 23 It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,341 days; semi-major axis of 2.38 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.30 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic. [4] It was first identified as 1934 NX at Johannesburg Observatory in 1934, extending the body's observation arc by 26 years prior to its official discovery observation at Sonneberg. [1]
The relatively high orbital eccentricity of this object causes it to come close to the orbit of the planet Mars. This means there is a chance it will eventually collide with the planet, with the odds of a collision estimated at 18% per billion orbits. [14]
This minor planet was named in honour of the English astronomer of German origin William Herschel (1738–1822), who discovered what he called Georgium Sidus (aka Uranus). The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 15 October 1977 ( M.P.C. 4237). [15] While the minor planet with number "1000", 1000 Piazzia, honors the discoverer of the first minor planet, Giuseppe Piazzi, number "2000" does so for Herschel, discoverer of the first telescopic major planet. [3] The asteroid is one of several early "kilo-numbered" minor planets that were dedicated to renowned scientists or institutions including: [16]
The sequence continues with the asteroids 5000 IAU (for the International Astronomical Union), 6000 United Nations (for the United Nations), 7000 Curie (for the pioneers on radioactivity, Marie and Pierre Curie), and 8000 Isaac Newton (for Isaac Newton), [16] while 9000 Hal (after HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey) and 10000 Myriostos (after the Greek word for ten-thousandth, which is meant to honor all astronomers) were named based on their direct numeric accordance.
In the Tholen classification, Herschel is a common S-type asteroid. [4]
Analysis of the lightcurve for this object appears to show that it is tumbling, with rotation occurring about the non-principal axis. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 130±3 hours with a high brightness variation of 1.16±0.05 magnitude ( U=2 ). [12] This makes it a slow rotator. [5]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 16.71 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.25. [5] According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Herschel measures between 14.768 and 17.385 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.1870 and 0.256. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
4349 Tibúrcio, provisional designation 1989 LX, is a dark asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 June 1989, by German astronomer Werner Landgraf at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.
1743 Schmidt, provisional designation 4109 P-L, is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey on 24 September 1960, by astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 17.5 hours. It was named for the optician Bernhard Schmidt.
1000 Piazzia, provisional designation 1923 NZ, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 48 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 August 1923, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 9.5 hours. It was named after Italian Giuseppe Piazzi, who discovered 1 Ceres.
Gaussia, provisional designation 1923 OA, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 73 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 August 1923, by Soviet astronomer Sergey Belyavsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. Gauss computed the orbit of Ceres, and 1001 Gaussia was named along with 1000 Piazzia, and 1002 Olbersia in part for their work on Ceres, with names for Giuseppe Piazzi, who found Ceres, and Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, who recovered it later that year.
La Paz, provisional designation 1923 PD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 40 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 31 October 1923, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory and named after the city La Paz in Bolivia.
1049 Gotho, provisional designation 1925 RB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 53 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 14 September 1925, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. Although the name of the asteroid is a masculine German name, it is not known to refer to a particular individual.
1059 Mussorgskia, provisional designation 1925 OA, is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 July 1925, by Soviet astronomer Vladimir Albitsky at the Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The X- or C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.636 hours.
1096 Reunerta, provisional designation 1928 OB, is an asteroid from the background population of the asteroid belt's central region, approximately 40 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 July 1928, by astronomer Harry Edwin Wood at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa. The asteroid was named after South African engineer Theodore Reunert, supporter of the observatory and friend of the discoverer.
1118 Hanskya is a large background asteroid, approximately 77 kilometers in diameter, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. Discovered by Sergey Belyavsky and Nikolaj Ivanov in 1927, it was named after Russian astronomer Aleksey Hansky. The presumed dark C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 15.6 hours.
1567 Alikoski, provisional designation 1941 HN, is a rare-type carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 67 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 April 1941, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. It was later named after Finnish astronomer Heikki Alikoski.
1555 Dejan, provisional designation 1941 SA, is an asteroid from the background population of the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 September 1941, by Belgian astronomer Fernand Rigaux at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle. The asteroid was named after Dejan Đurković, son of Serbian astronomer Petar Đurković.
1241 Dysona, provisional designation 1932 EB1, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 77 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 March 1932, by English astronomer Harry Edwin Wood at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa. The asteroid was named after English astronomer Frank Watson Dyson.
4282 Endate, provisional designation 1987 UQ1, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 October 1987, by Japanese astronomers Seiji Ueda and Hiroshi Kaneda at Kushiro Observatory (399) in Japan. It was named for amateur astronomer Kin Endate.
1267 Geertruida, provisional designation 1930 HD, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by astronomer Hendrik van Gent at Johannesburg Observatory in 1930, the asteroid was later named after Geertruid Pels, sister of Dutch astronomer Gerrit Pels.
2126 Gerasimovich, provisional designation 1970 QZ, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 August 1970, by Soviet astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after Russian astronomer Boris Gerasimovich.
4000 Hipparchus is a dark background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 January 1989, by Japanese astronomers Seiji Ueda and Hiroshi Kaneda at the Kushiro Observatory on Hokkaido, Japan. The likely carbonaceous asteroid has a short rotation period of 3.4 hours. It was named for the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus.
6255 Kuma, provisional designation 1994 XT, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 December 1994, by Japanese astronomer Akimasa Nakamura at Kuma Kogen Astronomical Observatory on the Island of Shikoku, Japan. It was named after the Japanese town of Kumakōgen.
1303 Luthera, provisional designation 1928 FP, is a dark asteroid and the parent body of the Luthera family, located in the outermost regions of the asteroid belt. It measures approximately 90 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 16 March 1928, by astronomer Friedrich Schwassmann at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany, and later named after German astronomer Robert Luther.
1266 Tone is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 80 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by astronomer Okuro Oikawa at the Tokyo Observatory in 1927, it was assigned the provisional designation 1927 BD. The asteroid was later named after the Tone River, one of Japan's largest rivers.
1585 Union, provisional designation 1947 RG, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 52 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 September 1947, by South African astronomer Ernest Johnson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa. The asteroid was named after the discovering observatory.