| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Skiff |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 4 November 1983 |
| Designations | |
| (3841) Dicicco | |
Named after | Dennis di Cicco (American astronomer) [2] |
| 1983 VG7 ·1973 YM2 1982 KA2 | |
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 43.27 yr (15,806 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.6394 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9083 AU |
| 2.2739 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1607 |
| 3.43 yr (1,252 days) | |
| 305.68° | |
| 0° 17m 14.64s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.2241° |
| 46.079° | |
| 359.76° | |
| Known satellites | 1 [4] [5] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.74±1.11 km [6] 5.10 km (derived) [3] 6.252±0.110 km [7] [8] 6.45±0.31 km [9] |
| 3.5949±0.0002 h [a] 3.5950±0.0001 h [5] | |
| 0.24 (assumed) [3] 0.294±0.033 [9] [8] 0.3126±0.0343 [7] 0.38±0.24 [6] | |
| SMASS = S [1] · S [10] [3] | |
| 12.90 [9] [7] ·13.00 [6] ·13.2 [1] ·13.26±0.25 [10] ·13.63±0.04 [3] [5] | |
3841 Dicicco, provisional designation 1983 VG7, is a stony Florian asteroid and synchronous binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1983, by American astronomer Brian Skiff at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States. [11] It was named after American astronomer Dennis di Cicco. [2] Its minor-planet moon was discovered in 2014. [5]
Dicicco is member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the inner main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,252 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. [1]
It was first identified as 1973 YM2 at Crimea–Nauchnij in 1973, extending the body's observation arc by 10 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa. [11]
Dicicco is a stony S-type asteroid in the SMASS classification. [1]
In December 2014, two rotational lightcurves of Dicicco were obtained from photometric observations by an international collaboration of American and European astronomers. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.5949 and 3.5950 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18 and 0.19 magnitude, respectively ( U=3/n.a. ). [5] [a]
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Dicicco measures between 4.74 and 6.45 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.294 and 0.38. [6] [7] [8] [9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 — derived from 8 Flora, the family's largest member and namesake – and derives a diameter of 5.10 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 13.63. [3]
During the photometric observations made in December 2014, it was revealed that Dicicco is a synchronous binary asteroid. Its minor-planet moon measures at least 1.67 kilometers in diameter based on a diameter-ratio of larger than 0.28. [4] Its orbit has an estimated semi-major axis of 12 kilometers, and a derived period of 21.63 and 21.641 hours, respectively. [5] [a]
This minor planet was named after American amateur astronomer and astrophotographer Dennis di Cicco. [2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 10 April 1990 ( M.P.C. 16246). [12]
