11264 Claudiomaccone, provisional designation 1979 UC4, is a stony background asteroid and binary system from the middle regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered 16 October 1979, by Nikolai Chernykh at Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.[11] It was named after the Italian astronomer Claudio Maccone.[2]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 October 1979 |
| Designations | |
MPC designation | 11264 Claudiomaccone |
Named after | Claudio Maccone (Italian astronomer)[2] |
Alternative designations | 1979 UC4 · 1989 EC10 1991 PD14 |
Minor planet category | main-belt · ((central)) background |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.27 yr (24,204 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1793 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9775 AU |
Semi-major axis | 2.5784 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.2331 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 4.14 yr (1,512 days) |
Mean anomaly | 21.409° |
Mean motion | 0° 14m 17.16s / day |
| Inclination | 3.5229° |
Longitude of ascending node | 11.129° |
Argument of perihelion | 57.936° |
| Known satellites | 1[3][4][5] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.203±0.295 km[6][7] 4.30 km (calculated)[3] |
Synodic rotation period | 3.18701±0.00005 h[8] 3.1872±0.0006 h[5] 3.1872 h[9] 3.1873±0.0001 h[8] |
Geometric albedo | 0.20 (assumed)[3] 0.432±0.094[6][7] |
Spectral type | V–R = 0.520±0.035[4][5] S[3] · S/Q[5] |
Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.0[6] · 14.2[1][3] · 14.3[5] · 14.44±0.25[10] |
Claudiomaccone orbits the Sun in the (central) main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,512 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] Claudiomaccone comes closer to Mars than to the other planets, repeatedly approaching the Red Planet as close as 0.47 AU (70,300,000 km). In 2096 it makes a very rare approach to 65 Gm.[citation needed]
A first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1950, extending the body's observation arc by 29 years prior to its official discovery observation.[11]
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Claudiomaccone measures 3.203 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.432,[6][7] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony S-type asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 4.30 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.2.[3]
In November 2004, a rotational lightcurve of Claudiomaccone was obtained from photometric observations by Ukrainian astronomer Yurij N. Krugly, using the 0.7-meter telescope at Chuguev Observation Station (121) and the 1-meter telescope at Simeiz Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.1872 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.15 magnitude (U=n.a.).[5] An identical period with an amplitude of 0.12 magnitude, was also published by Petr Pravec in 2006.[9]
After the binary nature of Claudiomaccone was announced (see below), follow-up observations by a group of French, Swiss and Italian astronomers (including Claudio Maccone) in 2008 and 2012, gave a period 3.1873 and 3.18701 hours with an amplitude of 0.16 and 0.12 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2+).[8]
The obtained photometric observations from 2004, also revealed that Claudiomaccone is an asynchronous binary system with a minor-planet moon orbiting it every 15.11 hours.[5] An identical orbital period is also given by Pravec.[9] The discovery was announced in December 2005, and the moon was provisionally designated S/2003 (11264) 1.[4]
Based on a secondary to primary mean-diameter ratio of larger than 0.31, the moon's diameter is estimated to be at least 1.24 kilometers. Its orbit around Claudiomaccone has an estimated semi-major axis of 6 kilometers.[4][5]
This minor planet was named after Claudio Maccone (born 1948), an Italian SETI astronomer and space scientist at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. In his book The Sun as a Gravitational Lens: Proposed Space Missions he proposed the construction and launch of a spacecraft–antenna, called the FOCAL space mission. Outside the Solar System, at a distance of 550 AU, FOCAL could have a significantly better sensitivity detecting radio signals due to the Sun's magnifying gravitational lensing effect, as predicted by general relativity.[2] The official naming citation was published on 2 September 2001 (M.P.C. 43382; 54279 and *35557).[12] In 2012, he succeed American astronomer Seth Shostak as chairman of the SETI Permanent Committee at the International Academy of Astronautics.
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