9965 GNU

Last updated

9965 GNU
AnimatedOrbitOf9965GNU.gif
Orbits of GNU (blue), the inner planets and Jupiter (outermost)
Discovery  [1]
Discovered by Spacewatch
Discovery site Kitt Peak National Obs.
Discovery date5 March 1992
Designations
(9965) GNU
Named after
 GNU Project   [1]
(free software project)
1992 EF2 ·1988 BD4
1993 QR3
main-belt   [1] [2]  ·(inner)
background   [3]
Orbital characteristics   [2]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 30.17 yr (11,019 d)
Aphelion 2.8283 AU
Perihelion 2.0080 AU
2.4181 AU
Eccentricity 0.1696
3.76 yr (1,373 d)
276.39°
0° 15m 43.56s / day
Inclination 12.206°
156.48°
82.938°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
2.07±0.53  km [4]
4.10 km(calculated) [5]
6.22±2.14 km [6]
6.293±0.159 km [7] [8]
39.720±0.1589  h (R) [9]
39.745±0.1589 h(S) [9]
0.102±0.014 [7]
0.1022±0.0145 [8]
0.105±0.125 [6]
0.20(assumed) [5]
0.53±0.12 [4]
D (Pan-STARRS) [10]
S (SDSS-MOC) [11]
S (assumed) [5]
14.10 [6] [8]
14.3 [2] [5]
14.31±0.14 [10]
14.398±0.005(R) [9]
14.72 [4]
14.966±0.011(S) [9]

    9965 GNU, provisional designation 1992 EF2, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers (2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 March 1992, by astronomer of the Spacewatch program at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States. [1] The uncertain D-type asteroid has a long rotation period of 39.7 hours. [5] It was named for the free-software GNU Project. [1]

    Contents

    Orbit and classification

    GNU is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. [3]

    It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.8  AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,373 days; semi-major axis of 2.42 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic. [2] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as 1988 BD4 at La Silla Observatory in January 1988, or 4 years prior to its official discovery observation at Kitt Peak. [1]

    Physical characteristics

    GNU has been characterized as a dark D-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS ' survey and in the SDSS-based taxonomy. [10] [11] It is also an assumed S-type asteroid, the most common type in the inner asteroid belt. [5]

    Rotation period

    In September and October 2012, two rotational lightcurves of GNU were obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 39.720 and 39.745 hours, with a brightness amplitude of 0.36 and 0.42 magnitude in the R- and S-band, respectively ( U=2/2 ). [9] While not being a slow rotator, GNU' period is significantly longer than the average spin rate of 2 to 20 hours, seen among the majority of asteroids.

    Diameter and albedo

    According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, GNU measures between 2.07 and 6.293 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.102 and 0.53. [4] [6] [7] [8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 4.10 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.3. [5]

    Naming

    This minor planet was named for the free-software GNU Project, created by Richard Stallman 1984. GNU is the recursive acronym for "GNU is not Unix". The collaborative projects enables programmers to trade and improve upon free software. [1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 November 2000 ( M.P.C. 41571). [12]

    Related Research Articles

    4349 Tibúrcio, provisional designation 1989 LX, is a dark asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 June 1989, by German astronomer Werner Landgraf at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.

    997 Priska, provisional designation 1923 NR, is a carbonaceous Adeonian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 July 1923, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid's name is a common German female name, unrelated to the discoverer's contemporaries.

    La Paz, provisional designation 1923 PD, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 40 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 31 October 1923, by German astronomer Max Wolf at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory and named after the city La Paz in Bolivia.

    1159 Granada, provisional designation 1929 RD, is a dark background asteroid and relatively slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 September 1929, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named for the Spanish city and province of Granada.

    6349 Acapulco, provisional designation 1995 CN1, is a dark Adeonian asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter.

    11277 Ballard, provisional designation 1988 TW2, is a Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.3 kilometers (3.9 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 8 October 1988, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of at least 10 hours. It was named for American marine scientist Robert Ballard.

    1991 Darwin, provisional designation 1967 JL, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter.

    1267 Geertruida, provisional designation 1930 HD, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by astronomer Hendrik van Gent at Johannesburg Observatory in 1930, the asteroid was later named after Geertruid Pels, sister of Dutch astronomer Gerrit Pels.

    2571 Geisei, provisional designation 1981 UC, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Japanese astronomer Tsutomu Seki at Geisei Observatory on 23 October 1981, and named for the Japanese village of Geisei.

    2126 Gerasimovich, provisional designation 1970 QZ, is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 August 1970, by Soviet astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after Russian astronomer Boris Gerasimovich.

    2012 Guo Shou-Jing, provisional designation 1964 TE2, is a carbonaceous asteroid and Florian interloper from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 October 1964, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking, China. The asteroid was named after Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing.

    2324 Janice, provisional designation 1978 VS4, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 7 November 1978, by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Schelte Bus at the Palomar Observatory in California. The asteroid was named for Janice Cline at Caltech. The presumably C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 23.2 hours.

    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.

    1455 Mitchella, provisional designation 1937 LF, is a Florian asteroid, slow rotator and suspected tumbler from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 June 1937, by astronomer Alfred Bohrmann at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany. The asteroid was named after American astronomer Maria Mitchell.

    3184 Raab, provisional designation 1949 QC, is a dark background asteroid and a potentially slow rotator from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 August 1949, by South African astronomer Ernest Leonard Johnson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. The likely C-type asteroid could have a long rotation period of 275 hours. It was named after Austrian amateur astronomer and software engineer Herbert Raab.

    1405 Sibelius, provisional designation 1936 RE, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 September 1936, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. The asteroid was named after composer Jean Sibelius.

    2169 Taiwan, provisional designation 1964 VP1, is a carbonaceous Astridian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 November 1964, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory near Nanking, China. It was named for Taiwan.

    3823 Yorii, provisional designation 1988 EC1, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter.

    10046 Creighton, provisional designation 1986 JC, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 May 1986, by astronomers with the International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey (INAS) at Palomar Observatory, California, in the United States. The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 6.57 hours. It was named after American architect James M. Creighton.

    7526 Ohtsuka, provisional designation 1993 AA, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Japanese astronomer Takeshi Urata at Nihondaira Observatory Oohira Station, Japan, on 2 January 1993. The asteroid was named after Japanese astronomer Katsuhito Ohtsuka.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "9965 GNU (1992 EF2)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
    2. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 9965 GNU (1992 EF2)" (2018-03-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 28 May 2018.
    3. 1 2 "Asteroid 9965 GNU". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
    4. 1 2 3 4 Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Kramer, E. A.; Grav, T.; et al. (September 2016). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year Two: Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (3): 12. arXiv: 1606.08923 . Bibcode:2016AJ....152...63N. doi: 10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/63 .
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "LCDB Data for (9965) GNU". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 28 May 2018.
    6. 1 2 3 4 Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). "Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 759 (1): 5. arXiv: 1209.5794 . Bibcode:2012ApJ...759L...8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8. S2CID   46350317.
    7. 1 2 3 Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv: 1109.4096 . Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. S2CID   118745497.
    8. 1 2 3 4 Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv: 1109.6407 . Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. S2CID   35447010. (catalog)
    9. 1 2 3 4 5 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. S2CID   8342929.
    10. 1 2 3 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. S2CID   53493339.
    11. 1 2 Carvano, J. M.; Hasselmann, P. H.; Lazzaro, D.; Mothé-Diniz, T. (February 2010). "SDSS-based taxonomic classification and orbital distribution of main belt asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 510: 12. Bibcode:2010A&A...510A..43C. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/200913322 . Retrieved 30 October 2019. (PDS data set)
    12. ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
    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.