23436 Alekfursenko (provisional designation 1982 UF8) is a carbonaceous Hygiean asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 8.4 kilometers (5.2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 21 October 1982, by Russian–Ukrainian astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravleva at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.[1] The likely C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.6 hours.[4] It was named after Russian historian Aleksandr Fursenko.[3]

23436 Alekfursenko
Discovery [1][2]
Discovered byL. V. Zhuravleva
Discovery siteCrimean Astrophysical Obs.
Discovery date21 October 1982
Designations
(23436) Alekfursenko
Named after
Aleksandr Fursenko[3]
(Russian historian)
1982 UF8 · 1982 VU6
1982 VZ10 · 1987 QP2
1999 XD167
main-belt · (outer)[4]
Hygiea[5]
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc36.55 yr (13,349 d)
Aphelion3.7754 AU
Perihelion2.5432 AU
3.1593 AU
Eccentricity0.1950
5.62 yr (2,051 d)
186.36°
0° 10m 31.8s / day
Inclination3.7682°
309.70°
87.307°
Physical characteristics
8.434±0.13 km[6][7][8]
3.627672±0.000002 h[9]
3.628±0.0004 h[10]
0.082±0.016[6][7]
C (assumed)[4]
13.8[1][2]
13.7[6]

Orbit and classification

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Alekfursenko is a member of the Hygiea family (601),[5] a very large family of carbonaceous outer-belt asteroids, named after the fourth-largest asteroid, 10 Hygiea.[11] It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,051 days; semi-major axis of 3.16 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The asteroid's observation arc begins with its discovery observation in 1982, as neither precoveries nor prior identifications were obtained.[1]

Naming

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This minor planet was named in honor of Russian historian Aleksandr Fursenko (1927–2008), expert in topics such as international relations, U.S. history, and Russian foreign economic policy. He was also a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.[3] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 November 2007 (M.P.C. 61268).[12]

Physical characteristics

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Rotation period

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In November 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Alekfursenko was obtained from photometric observations made by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.6277 hours with a brightness variation of 0.42 magnitude (U=2).[10] A modeled lightcurve using photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database and from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) was published in 2018. It gave a concurring sidereal period of 3.627672 hours, as well as a spin axis at (−1.0°, 54.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[9]

Diameter and albedo

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According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based WISE spacecraft, Alekfursenko measures 8.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.08,[6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 8.0 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.22.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "23436 Alekfursenko (1982 UF8)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 23436 Alekfursenko (1982 UF8)" (2019-05-09 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (23436) Alekfursenko. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 1067. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "LCDB Data for (23436) Alekfursenko". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Asteroid 23436 Alekfursenko". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d 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 118700974. (catalog)
  7. ^ a b 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. ^ Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; Kramer, E. A.; Masiero, J. R.; et al. (June 2016). "NEOWISE Diameters and Albedos V1.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 247: EAR-A-COMPIL-5-NEOWISEDIAM-V1.0. Bibcode:2016PDSS..247.....M. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  9. ^ a b Durech, J.; Hanus, J.; Alí-Lagoa, V. (September 2018). "Asteroid models reconstructed from the Lowell Photometric Database and WISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 617: 8. arXiv:1807.02083. Bibcode:2018A&A...617A..57D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833437. S2CID 119388288.
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). "Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families". Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 978-0-8165-3213-1. S2CID 119280014.
  12. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
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