1925 Franklin-Adams (prov. designation: 1934 RY) is a stony background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8.9 kilometers (5.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 September 1934, by Dutch astronomer Hendrik van Gent at the Leiden Southern Station, annex to the Johannesburg Observatory in South Africa.[1] The bright asteroid has a short rotation period of less than 3 hours.[5] It was named after British amateur astronomer John Franklin Adams (1843–1912).[2]

1925 Franklin-Adams
Franklin-Adams modeled from its lightcurve
Discovery[1]
Discovered byH. van Gent
Discovery siteJohannesburg Obs.
(Leiden Southern Station)
Discovery date9 September 1934
Designations
(1925) Franklin-Adams
Named after
John Franklin Adams
(British astronomer)[2]
1934 RY · 1969 EP1
1970 KH · 1974 KK
main-belt[1][3] · (middle)
background[4][5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc85.14 yr (31,098 d)
Aphelion2.9989 AU
Perihelion2.1046 AU
2.5517 AU
Eccentricity0.1752
4.08 yr (1,489 d)
11.630°
0° 14m 30.48s / day
Inclination7.7371°
113.47°
242.08°
Physical characteristics
8.864±0.114 km[6][7]
2.978±0.002 h[5][8][a]
0.356±0.054[6][7]
S (assumed)[9]
12.0[7]
12.1[1][3]

Orbit and classification

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Franklin-Adams is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.[4] It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,489 days; semi-major axis of 2.55 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Johannesburg.[1]

Naming

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This minor planet named after British amateur astronomer John Franklin Adams (1843–1912), who created one of the earliest detailed, photographic atlases of the complete night sky (the Franklin-Adams plates or charts).[10] He later donated his 25-cm Franklin-Adams Star Camera (Franklin-Adams photographic refractor) to the Johannesburg Observatory, which lead to the discovery of Proxima Centauri.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 December 1983 (M.P.C. 8402).[11] Asteroid 982 Franklina, discovered by South African astronomer Harry Edwin Wood at Johannesburg was also named after him.

Physical characteristics

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Franklin-Adams is an assumed stony S-type asteroid with a very high albedo of more than 0.3 (see below).[5][9]

Rotation period and poles

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In January 2005, a rotational lightcurve of Franklin-Adams was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.082 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.23 magnitude (U=2).[12] In March 2010, photometry at the Palomar Transient Factory in California gave a period of 2.979 with an amplitude of 0.32 magnitude (U=2).[13] In January 2013, American astronomer Brian Warner obtained the so-far best rated lightcurve.[a] It gave a period of 2.978 hours and an amplitude of 0.25 magnitude (U=3).[8]

In 2016, an international study modeled a lightcurve with a concurring period of 2.978301 hours and found a spin axis of (277.0°, 57.0°) and (66.0°, 48.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β) (U=n.a.).[14]

Diameter and albedo

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According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Franklin-Adams measures 8.864 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an unusually high albedo of 0.356,[6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 11.30 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.1.[9]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Lightcurve plot of 1925 Franklin-Adams with a period of 2.978±0.002 and an amplitude of 0.25 ± 0.02 mag. Observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory by B. D. Warner (2013)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "1925 Franklin-Adams (1934 RY)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1925) Franklin-Adams". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 155. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1926. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1925 Franklin-Adams (1934 RY)" (2019-10-31 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Asteroid 1925 Franklin-Adams – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "Asteroid 1925 Franklin-Adams". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b c 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. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  7. ^ a b c 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.
  8. ^ a b Warner, Brian D. (July 2013). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: 2013 January - March". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 40 (3): 137–145. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40..137W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b c "LCDB Data for (1925) Franklin-Adams". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  10. ^ "The Internet Encyclopedia of Science". David Darling. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017.
  11. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  12. ^ Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (1925) Franklin-Adams". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  13. ^ 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. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. ^ Hanus, J.; Durech, J.; Oszkiewicz, D. A.; Behrend, R.; Carry, B.; Delbo, M.; et al. (February 2016). "New and updated convex shape models of asteroids based on optical data from a large collaboration network". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 586: 24. arXiv:1510.07422. Bibcode:2016A&A...586A.108H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527441.
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