(38984) 2000 UZ4 (provisional designation 2000 UZ4) is carbonaceous Zhongguo asteroid from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 October 2000, by astronomers with Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States.[1] The likely elongated C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 19.20 hours.[3]

(38984) 2000 UZ4
Discovery[1]
Discovered byLINEAR
Discovery siteLincoln Lab's ETS
Discovery date24 October 2000
Designations
(38984) 2000 UZ4
2000 UZ4
main-belt[1] · (outer)[2][3]
Zhongguo[4] · 2:1 res[5]
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc20.39 yr (7,447 d)
Aphelion4.1195 AU
Perihelion2.5141 AU
3.3168 AU
Eccentricity0.2420
6.04 yr (2,206 d)
312.38°
0° 9m 47.52s / day
Inclination0.4882°
59.710°
357.34°
Physical characteristics
4.87 km (calculated)[3]
19.20±0.390 h[6]
0.057 (assumed)[3]
C[3][7]
14.6[2]
14.840±0.190 (R)[6]
15.19±0.14[7]
15.29[3]

Orbit and classification

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2000 UZ4 is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population, and a member of the small group of Zhongguo asteroids,[4] located in the Hecuba gap and locked in a 2:1 mean-motion resonance with the gas giant Jupiter. Contrary to the nearby unstable Griqua group, the orbits of the Zhongguos are stable over half a billion years.[4][5]

It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–4.1 AU once every 6.04 years (2,206 days; semi-major axis of 3.32 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 0° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken by Spacewatch in February 1996, more than 4 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.[1]

Physical characteristics

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2000 UZ4 has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS' large-scale survey.[3]

Rotation period

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In January 2014, a rotational lightcurve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 19.20 hours with a high brightness amplitude of 0.70 magnitude, indicative of an elongated shape (U=2).[6]

Diameter and albedo

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The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 4.87 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 15.29.[3]

Numbering and naming

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This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 28 March 2002, after its orbit had sufficiently been secured (M.P.C. 45198).[8] As of 2018, it has not been named.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "38984 (2000 UZ4)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 38984 (2000 UZ4)" (2016-07-01 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "LCDB Data for (38984)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Roig, F.; Nesvorný, D.; Ferraz-Mello, S. (September 2002). "Asteroids in the 2 : 1 resonance with Jupiter: dynamics and size distribution". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 335 (2): 417–431. Bibcode:2002MNRAS.335..417R. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05635.x.
  5. ^ a b "Asteroid (38984) 2000 UZ4 – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Chang, Chan-Kao; Ip, Wing-Huen; Lin, Hsing-Wen; Cheng, Yu-Chi; Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Yang, Ting-Chang; et al. (August 2015). "Asteroid Spin-rate Study Using the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 219 (2): 19. arXiv:1506.08493. Bibcode:2015ApJS..219...27C. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/219/2/27. S2CID 17093124.
  7. ^ a b 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.
  8. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
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