| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 7 October 1986 |
| Designations | |
| (3850) Peltier | |
Named after | Leslie Peltier (American amateur astronomer) [2] |
| 1986 TK2 ·1949 PC 1969 OC1 ·1979 OX13 1982 OW | |
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 47.47 yr (17,339 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5967 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8718 AU |
| 2.2342 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1622 |
| 3.34 yr (1,220 days) | |
| 126.84° | |
| 0° 17m 42.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.2687° |
| 124.13° | |
| 207.30° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.00 km (calculated) [3] |
| 2.4287±0.0002 h [a] 2.4289±0.0001 h [4] | |
| 0.4 (assumed) [3] | |
| SMASS = V [1] · V [3] | |
| 13.6 [1] [3] ·13.62±0.37 [5] | |
3850 Peltier, provisional designation 1986 TK2, is a Florian asteroid and suspected interloper from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 October 1986, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station, near Flagstaff, Arizona. [6] The asteroid was named after American amateur astronomer Leslie Peltier. [2]
In the SMASS taxonomy, Peltier is a V-type asteroid but possesses the orbital characteristics of a member of the Flora family, which is one of the largest groups of stony S-type asteroids in the main-belt. It is therefore thought to be an unrelated interloper that does not origin from the Flora family's parent body. Peltier orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,220 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. [1] In 1949, it was first identified as 1949 PC at Johannesburg. The body's observation arc begins at Crimea-Nauchnij in 1979, when it was identified as 1979 OX13, 10 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa. [6]
A rotational lightcurve of Peltier was obtained by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory in October 2006. [b] Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 2.4287 hours with a brightness variation of 0.09 magnitude ( U=2 ). [a] In December 2013, photometric observations by Australian amateur astronomer Julian Oey gave a concurring period of 2.4289 hours and an amplitude of 0.10 magnitude ( U=3 ). [4]
Peltier has not been observed by any space-based surveys such as the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, or NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for V-type asteroids of 0.40 and calculates a diameter of 4.00 kilometers using an absolute magnitude of 13.6. [3]
This minor planet was named in memory of American amateur astronomer Leslie Peltier (1900–1980), who has discovered 12 comets and several novae including Nova Herculis 1963. [2] Naming citation was provided by David H. Levy and published by the MPC on 20 May 1989 ( M.P.C. 14633). [7]
