![]() Shape model of Candy from its lightcurve | |
Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | E. Bowell |
Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
Discovery date | 9 November 1980 |
Designations | |
(3015) Candy | |
Named after | Michael P. Candy (British astronomer) [2] |
1980 VN ·1974 VL2 1974 XC ·1984 HS | |
main-belt ·(outer) [1] [3] | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 52.17 yr (19,056 days) |
Aphelion | 3.9747 AU |
Perihelion | 2.7983 AU |
3.3865 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.1737 |
6.23 yr (2,276 days) | |
0.7451° | |
0° 9m 29.52s / day | |
Inclination | 17.402° |
38.162° | |
300.96° | |
Physical characteristics | |
24.517±0.470 km [4] [5] 33.54 km (calculated) [3] | |
4.6249±0.0001 h [6] 4.625±0.001 h [7] 4.62501±0.00004 h [8] 4.62516 h [9] [10] 4.625223 h [11] | |
Pole ecliptic latitude | |
0.057 (assumed) [3] 0.1067±0.0173 [4] [5] | |
C (assumed) [3] | |
11.1 [1] [3] [5] ·11.14±0.34 [12] | |
3015 Candy (prov. designation: 1980 VN) is a background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 November 1980, by British-American astronomer Edward Bowell at Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona. [13] The asteroid was named after British astronomer Michael P. Candy. [2]
Candy is a background asteroid that does not belong to any known asteroid family. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–4.0 AU once every 6 years and 3 months (2,276 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 17° with respect to the ecliptic. [1] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Goethe Link Observatory in May 1965, more than 15 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa. [13]
This minor planet was named after Michael P. Candy (1928–1994) a British astronomer and discoverer of minor planets and comets, who was a director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory and Perth Observatory. [2] As a long-time astrometrist and orbit computer, he discovered comet C/1960 Y1 (Candy) at Greenwich, as well as the minor planet 3898 Curlewis, 3893 DeLaeter and 3894 Williamcooke. He was also president of IAU's Commission VI. [2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 June 1986 ( M.P.C. 10845). [14]
Candy is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid. [3]
Several rotational lightcurves of Candy were obtained from photometric observations by astronomer Maurice Clark. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period between 4.6249 and 4.62516 hours with a brightness variation between 0.50 and 1.05 magnitude ( U=3/3/3/3/3 ). (A high brightness amplitude typically indicates that a body has a non-spheroidal shape.) [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
A 2016-published lightcurve, using modeled photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database (LPD), gave a concurring period of 4.625223 hours ( U=2 ), as well as two spin axis of (142.0°, −26.0°) and (346.0°, −70.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β). [11] Clark's spin modeling also suggests that Candy has a retrograde rotation, and a spin axis of (306.0°, 43.0.0°), that is nearly aligned with the body's shortest axis. [10]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Candy measures 24.517 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.1067, [4] [5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous of 0.057, and calculates a diameter of 33.54 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.1. [3]