| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Segal |
| Discovery site | Jupiter Obs. |
| Discovery date | 22 April 2000 |
| Designations | |
| (45737) Benita | |
Named after | Benita Segal [2] (discoverer's wife) |
| 2000 HB | |
| main-belt ·(outer) background [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 19.41 yr (7,091 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.3441 AU |
| Perihelion | 3.0485 AU |
| 3.1963 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0462 |
| 5.71 yr (2,087 days) | |
| 245.14° | |
| 0° 10m 21s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.197° |
| 181.43° | |
| 124.47° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.121±1.701 km [4] |
| 0.294±0.080 [4] | |
| 13.6 [1] | |
45737 Benita (provisional designation 2000 HB) is a bright asteroid located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It has an estimated diameter of approximately 5 kilometers. The asteroid was discovered on April 22, 2000, by Bruce Segal, an American amateur astronomer, at the Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter Observatory ( 837 ) in Boca Raton, Florida. [1] [5]
Benita is a non-family asteroid that belongs to the background population of the main belt. [3] It orbits the Sun in the outer region of the asteroid belt, at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU. It completes one orbit around the Sun every 5 years and 9 months (2,087 days) with a semi-major axis of approximately 3.20 AU. The orbit of Benita is slightly eccentric, with an eccentricity of 0.05, and it is inclined at an angle of 10° with respect to the ecliptic plane. [1] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Lincoln Laboratory's ETS, New Mexico, on 30 October 1997. [5]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Benita measures 5.121 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.294. [4]
As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Benita has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, poles and shape remain unknown. [6]
The discoverer named this minor planet after his wife, Benita Segal (born 1964), a major supporter of the observatory. [2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 November 2002 ( M.P.C. 47170). [7]
