40463 Frankkameny

40463 Frankkameny
Discovery[1]
Discovered by G. W. Billings
Discovery site Calgary Obs. (681)
Discovery date 15 September 1999
Designations
MPC designation 40463 Frankkameny
Named after
Frank Kameny
(gay rights activist)[2]
1999 RE44 · 1997 EJ19  
main-belt · (middle)
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 19.17 yr (7,002 days)
Aphelion 3.2809 AU
Perihelion 2.2764 AU
2.7786 AU
Eccentricity 0.1808
4.63 yr (1,692 days)
295.50°
 12m 46.08s / day
Inclination 2.4414°
302.76°
32.221°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 3.855±0.638 km[3][4]
4.23 km (calculated)[5]
56.5554±0.2034 h[6]
0.057 (assumed)[5]
0.075±0.028[3][4]
C[5][7]
15.147±0.004 (R)[6]
15.2[1] · 15.38±0.05[7]
15.5[3] · 15.6[5]

    40463 Frankkameny, provisional designation 1999 RE44, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 September 1999, by Canadian amateur astronomer Gary W. Billings at Calgary Observatory (681) in Alberta, Canada.[2]

    The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,692 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] Frankkameny was first identified as 1997 EJ19 by Spacewatch in 1997, extending the asteroid's observation arc by more than 2 years prior to its discovery observation.[2]

    It has a rotation period of 56.6 hours with a brightness variation of 0.51 magnitude, based on a light-curve obtained in September 2013, from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory, California (U=2).[6] While not being a slow rotator, Frankkameny's period is far longer than average, and its brightness amplitude is indicative of a non-spheroidal shape.

    According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 3.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.075,[3][4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 4.2 kilometers.[5]

    The minor planet was named in honour of American astronomer and gay rights activist Frank Kameny (1925–2011), by the Minor Planet Center and the International Astronomical Union on 3 July 2012. Frank Kameny was a Harvard-trained variable star astronomer. He died 11 October 2011.[2][8][9][10][11][12] Naming citation was published on 3 July 2012 (M.P.C. 79911).[13]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 40463 Frankkameny (1999 RE44)" (2016-05-04 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
    2. 1 2 3 4 "40463 Frankkameny (1999 RE44)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    3. 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" (PDF). The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407Freely accessible. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    4. 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:1109.4096Freely accessible. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 "LCDB Data for (40463) Frankkameny". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    6. 1 2 3 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:1504.04041Freely accessible. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    7. 1 2 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:1506.00762Freely accessible. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    8. US: Gay rights campaigner Frank Kameny has asteroid named for him, Pink News, 10 July 2012
    9. Asteroid between Mars, Jupiter named for US gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, The Washington Post, July 10, 2012
    10. Brett Zongker, Asteroid named for gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, Business Week, July 10, 2012
    11. Andrew Davis, Canadian names asteroid for Kameny; Anderson Cooper inspires Chinese, Windy City Times, 2012-07-10
    12. Freya Petersen, Canadian astronomer names asteroid after gay rights activist, Alaska Dispatch, July 11, 2012
    13. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 November 2016.

    External links

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.