3070 Aitken

Last updated

3070 Aitken
Discovery  [1]
Discovered by Indiana University
(Indiana Asteroid Program)
Discovery site Goethe Link Obs.
Discovery date4 April 1949
Designations
(3070) Aitken
Named after
 Robert G. Aitken
(American astronomer) [2]
1949 GK ·1942 GQ
A907 HA
main-belt  · Flora   [3]
Orbital characteristics   [1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 74.56 yr (27,232 days)
Aphelion 2.7616 AU
Perihelion 1.8504 AU
2.3060 AU
Eccentricity 0.1976
3.50 yr (1,279 days)
177.01°
0° 16m 53.4s / day
Inclination 2.3456°
170.44°
52.609°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions3.85 km (calculated) [3]
6.3965±0.0026 h [4]
0.24 (assumed) [3]
S   [3]
13.7 [1]  ·14.27±0.28 [5]  ·13.789±0.005(R) [4]  ·14.24 [3]

    3070 Aitken, provisional designation 1949 GK, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 April 1949, by astronomers of the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory in Indiana, United States. The asteroid was named after American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken. [2] [6]

    Contents

    Orbit and classification

    Aitken is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.8  AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,279 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. [1]

    In 1907, the asteroid was first identified as A907 HA at Taunton Observatory ( 803 ) in Massachusetts. A precovery, taken at Turku Observatory in 1942, extends the Aitken's observation arc by 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Goethe Link. [6]

    Physical characteristics

    Aitken has been characterized as a stony S-type asteroid. [3]

    In November 2010, rotational lightcurve of Aitken was obtained from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 6.3965 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.38 magnitude ( U=2 ). [4]

    The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.9 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.24. [3]

    Naming

    This minor planet was named for of American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken (1864–1951), who was the 4th director of the Lick Observatory from 1930 to 1935, successor of director William Campbell, after whom the minor planet 2751 Campbell was named. [2]

    Aitken became a well known expert on double stars and, in 1932, published the New General Catalogue of Double Stars Within 120° of the North Pole, [7] He is also known for his book The Binary Stars that was first published in 1918. [8] He is also honored by the lunar crater Aitken . [2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 21 April 1989 ( M.P.C. 14481). [9]

    Related Research Articles

    1810 Epimetheus, provisional designation 4196 P-L, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">4923 Clarke</span> Asteroid

    4923 Clarke, provisional designation 1981 EO27, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 2 March 1981, by American astronomer Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. The spheroidal S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.14 hours. It was named after British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. On the same night, Schelte Bus also discovered 5020 Asimov.

    6267 Rozhen, provisional designation 1987 SO9, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. In 1987, the asteroid was discovered by Eric Elst at Rozhen Observatory, Bulgaria, and was later named after the discovering observatory.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">9994 Grotius</span> Rafita asteroid

    9994 Grotius, provisional designation 4028 P-L, is a stony Rafita asteroid from the middle regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and named after Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">9963 Sandage</span>

    9963 Sandage, provisional designation 1992 AN, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">9912 Donizetti</span> Asteroid

    9912 Donizetti, provisional designation 2078 T-3, is a stony Rafita asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 km in diameter. It was discovered during the third Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1977, and named after Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti.

    49777 Cappi, provisional designation 1999 XS, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter.

    6470 Aldrin, provisional designation 1982 RO1, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter.

    4175 Billbaum, provisional designation 1985 GX, is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 April 1985, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station of the Lowell Observatory near Flagstaff, Arizona. The uncommon L-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 2.73 hours and was named for American astronomer William A. Baum.

    5642 Bobbywilliams, provisional designation 1990 OK1, is an eccentric, stony asteroid and Mars-crosser from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.7 kilometers in diameter.

    2442 Corbett, provisional designation 1980 TO, is a vestoid asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 October 1980, by Czech astronomer Zdeňka Vávrová at Kleť Observatory, now in the Czech Republic. It is named after British-Indian hunter Jim Corbett.

    3936 Elst, provisional designation 2321 T-3, is a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 16 October 1977, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California, United States. It was named after Belgian astronomer Eric W. Elst.

    5474 Gingasen, provisional designation 1988 XE1, is a Vestian asteroid and suspected binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">8441 Lapponica</span> Asteroid

    8441 Lapponica, provisional designation 4008 T-3, is a background asteroid from the Florian region of the inner asteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1977, by Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California. The L-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.27 hours. It was named for the Bar-tailed godwit, a shorebird also known by its Latin name Limosa lapponica.

    9844 Otani, provisional designation 1989 WF1, is a stony Eunomian asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 November 1989, by Japanese astronomers Yoshio Kushida and Osamu Muramatsu at the Yatsugatake South Base Observatory, Hokuto, near the Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. It was named for Japanese astronomer Toyokazu Otani.

    5040 Rabinowitz, provisional designation 1972 RF, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory on 15 September 1972. Contrary to most of his discoveries, this asteroid is unrelated to the Palomar–Leiden survey and exclusively credited to Tom Gehrels.

    1979 Sakharov, provisionally designated 2006 P-L, is a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and named after Russian physicist Andrei Sakharov.

    5010 Amenemhêt is a stony asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter.

    12838 Adamsmith, provisional designation 1997 EL55, is a stony Koronis asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 9 March 1997, by Belgian astronomer Eric Walter Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. It was named after Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith.

    21501 Acevedo, provisional designation 1998 KC8, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2.4 kilometers in diameter.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3070 Aitken (1949 GK)" (2016-11-03 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
    2. 1 2 3 4 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(3070) Aitken". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3070) Aitken. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 253. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3071. ISBN   978-3-540-00238-3.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "LCDB Data for (3070) Aitken". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 3 May 2016.
    4. 1 2 3 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 3 May 2016.
    5. ↑ 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 . Retrieved 3 May 2016.
    6. 1 2 "3070 Aitken (1949 GK)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
    7. ↑ Daintith, John (1981). "Aitken, Robert Grant". Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists. Vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc. p. 9. ISBN   978-0-87196-396-3.
    8. ↑ The Binary Stars. Dover (digital version). 1964. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
    9. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.