Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | A. Natori T. Urata |
Discovery site | JCPM Yakiimo Stn. |
Discovery date | 15 August 1991 |
Designations | |
(4959) Niinoama | |
Named after | Taira no Tokiko (Imperial House of Japan) [2] |
1991 PA1 ·1958 TZ 1966 CB ·1968 MC 1972 EB ·1979 OU13 1980 TG1 ·1980 TS8 1984 OO ·1985 OD 1986 VS1 ·1989 FE1 | |
main-belt ·(outer) [3] background | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 67.15 yr (24,528 days) |
Aphelion | 3.1759 AU |
Perihelion | 3.1272 AU |
3.1516 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.0077 |
5.59 yr (2,044 days) | |
129.49° | |
0° 10m 34.32s / day | |
Inclination | 8.9913° |
128.79° | |
320.53° | |
Physical characteristics | |
26.50±0.73 km [4] 27.96±2.4 km [5] 35.842±0.117 km [6] 36.21±0.80 km [7] 42.507±0.576 km [8] | |
4.73±0.01 h [9] | |
0.0468±0.0109 [8] 0.066±0.003 [7] 0.079±0.010 [6] 0.1081 (derived) [3] 0.1082±0.021 [5] 0.120±0.014 [4] | |
C (assumed) [3] | |
10.8 [3] [4] [5] [7] [8] ·10.9 [1] | |
4959 Niinoama (prov. designation: 1991 PA1) is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Japanese astronomers Akira Natori and Takeshi Urata at JCPM Yakiimo Station on 15 August 1991. [10] The presumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 4.7 hours and measures approximately 36 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter. It was named after Taira no Tokiko (1126–1185) of the Imperial House of Japan during the Heian period.
Niinoama is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 3.1–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,044 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.01 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. [1] A first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in May 1950, extending the body's observation arc by more than 41 years prior to its official discovery observation at Yakiimo. [10]
This minor planet was named after Taira no Tokiko (1126–1185), second wife of military leader Taira no Kiyomori and grandmother of Emperor Antoku after whom 3686 Antoku is named. According to the Tale of the Heike , she drowned herself during the Battle of Dan-no-ura together with the boy-Emperor Antoku in her arms. [2] [11] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 10 November 1992 ( M.P.C. 21132). [12]
Niinoama is an assumed C-type asteroid. [3]
Photometric observations of Niinoama collected during 2008 show a rotation period of 4.73±0.01 hours with a brightness variation of 0.32 ± 0.04 magnitude ( U=3 ), [9] superseding an early measurement that gave 4.725±0.002 hours ( U=1+ ). [13]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Niinoama measures between 26.50 and 42.51 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.079. [5] [7] [8] [4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts a diameter of 27.96 kilometers from IRAS, and derives an albedo of 0.1082 based on an absolute magnitude of 10.8. [3]
1743 Schmidt, provisional designation 4109 P-L, is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey on 24 September 1960, by astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 17.5 hours. It was named for the optician Bernhard Schmidt.
1853 McElroy, provisional designation 1957 XE, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 December 1957, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States, and named for American biochemist William D. McElroy.
1042 Amazone, provisional designation 1925 HA, is a dark asteroid and slow rotator in the outer asteroid belt, approximately 70 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 April 1925, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany. It is named after the Amazons from Greek mythology.
1092 Lilium, provisional designation 1924 PN, is a dark, carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 44 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 January 1924, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after the flower Lilium.
1118 Hanskya is a large background asteroid, approximately 77 kilometers in diameter, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. Discovered by Sergey Belyavsky and Nikolaj Ivanov in 1927, it was named after Russian astronomer Aleksey Hansky. The presumed dark C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 15.6 hours.
1567 Alikoski, provisional designation 1941 HN, is a rare-type carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 67 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 April 1941, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. It was later named after Finnish astronomer Heikki Alikoski.
1295 Deflotte, provisional designation 1933 WD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 48 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 November 1933, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa. The asteroid was named after the discoverer's nephew.
1328 Devota, provisional designation 1925 UA, is a dark background asteroid from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 56 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 October 1925, by Russian–French astronomer Benjamin Jekhowsky at the Algiers Observatory in North Africa. The asteroid was named after Argentine astronomer Fortunato Devoto.
1250 Galanthus, provisional designation 1933 BD, is a dark background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 January 1933, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory. The asteroid was named for the herbaceous plant Galanthus, also known as "snowdrop".
1524 Joensuu, provisional designation 1939 SB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 42 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 18 September 1939, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland, and named for the town of Joensuu.
1504 Lappeenranta, provisional designation 1939 FM, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 23 March 1939, by Finnish astronomer Liisi Oterma at the Iso-Heikkilä Observatory, and named after the city of Lappeenranta in Finland.
1303 Luthera, provisional designation 1928 FP, is a dark asteroid and the parent body of the Luthera family, located in the outermost regions of the asteroid belt. It measures approximately 90 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 16 March 1928, by astronomer Friedrich Schwassmann at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany, and later named after German astronomer Robert Luther.
1760 Sandra, provisional designation 1950 GB, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 April 1950, by South African astronomer Ernest Johnson at Union Observatory in Johannesburg, and named after his granddaughter Sandra.
2111 Tselina is a stony Eos asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 13 June 1969, by Soviet astronomer Tamara Smirnova at Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 6.6 hours and measures approximately 23 kilometers in diameter. It was later named after the Soviet Virgin Lands Campaign.
1323 Tugela, provisional designation 1934 LD, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 60 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 May 1934, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The asteroid was named for the Tugela River in western South Africa.
1186 Turnera, provisional designation 1929 PL, is a stony Eoan asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 August 1929, by South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The asteroid was later named after British astronomer Herbert Hall Turner.
2120 Tyumenia is a dark background asteroid, approximately 45 kilometers in diameter, located in the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 9 September 1967, by Soviet astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for the now Russian district of Tyumen Oblast in Western Siberia.
1940 Whipple is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 February 1975, by the Harvard College Observatory at its George R. Agassiz Station near Harvard, Massachusetts, in the United States, and named after astronomer Fred Whipple.
1336 Zeelandia, provisional designation 1934 RW, is a stony Koronian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 September 1934, by Dutch astronomer Hendrik van Gent at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa. The asteroid was named for the Dutch province of Zeeland.
1461 Jean-Jacques, provisional designation 1937 YL, is a metallic asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 34 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 December 1937, by French astronomer Marguerite Laugier at Nice Observatory in southern France, who named it after her son Jean-Jacques Laugier.