3790 Raywilson, provisional designation 1937 UE, is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 26 October 1937, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany.[1] The C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 4.65 hours.[3] It was named for English physicist Raymond Wilson.[1]
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 26 October 1937 |
| Designations | |
| (3790) Raywilson | |
Named after | Raymond Wilson [1] (English physicist) |
| 1937 UE · 1976 SV1 1982 UC2 | |
| main-belt [1][2] · (outer) Themis [3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics [2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 80.42 yr (29,372 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.6936 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6347 AU |
| 3.1642 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1673 |
| 5.63 yr (2,056 d) | |
| 102.45° | |
| 0° 10m 30.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 0.4756° |
| 320.35° | |
| 96.123° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 10.35±2.87 km[5] 12.94 km (calculated)[3] 14.028±0.229 km[5] | |
| 4.654±0.0007 h[6] 4.86 h[7] | |
| 0.052±0.020[5] 0.08 (assumed)[3] 0.137±0.130[5] | |
| C [3][8] | |
| 12.70[5] 12.770±0.003 (R)[6] 12.8[2][3] 13.00±0.18[8] | |
Orbit and classification
editRaywilson is a Themistian asteroid that belongs to the Themis family (602),[3][4] a very large family of carbonaceous asteroids, named after its parent body, 24 Themis.[9] For no good reason, it has also been considered a member of the Eos family.[7]
It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,056 days; semi-major axis of 3.16 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 0° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg, the night after its official discovery observation.[1]
Physical characteristics
editPan-STARRS' photometric survey has characterized it as a common, carbonaceous C-type asteroid, which is also the overall spectral type of the Themis family.[9]: 23
Rotation period
editIn October 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Raywilson was obtained in the R-band from photometric observations by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 4.654 hours with a brightness variation of 0.30 magnitude (U=2).[6] A previous measurement by Brazilian astronomers gave a period of 4.86 hours and an amplitude of 0.31 magnitude (U=1).[7]
Diameter and albedo
editAccording to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Raywilson measures between 10.35 and 14.028 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.052 and 0.137,[5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 12.94 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.8.[3]
Naming
editThis minor planet was named after English physicist Raymond Wilson (1928–2018), who was an astronomical optician and pioneer of active optics at ESO's La Silla Observatory in the 1970s. The official naming citation was proposed by Lutz Schmadel, endorsed by the Heidelberg Observatory, and published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22499).[10]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "3790 Raywilson (1937 UE)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3790 Raywilson (1937 UE)" (2018-03-27 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "LCDB Data for (3790) Raywilson". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Asteroid 3790 Raywilson – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f 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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b c Alvarez-Candal, Alvaro; Duffard, René; Angeli, Cláudia A.; Lazzaro, Daniela; Fernández, Silvia (December 2004). "Rotational lightcurves of asteroids belonging to families". Icarus. 172 (2): 388–401. Bibcode:2004Icar..172..388A. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.008.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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 9780816532131.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
External links
edit- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 3790 Raywilson at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 3790 Raywilson at the JPL Small-Body Database
