astro.wikisort.org - Asteroid

12696 Camus, provisional designation 1989 SF₁, is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter.

12696 Camus

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	E. W. Elst
Discovery site	La Silla Obs.
Discovery date	26 September 1989
Designations
MPC designation	(12696) Camus
Named after	Albert Camus (French writer)[2]
Alternative designations	1989 SF1 · 1993 QL2
Minor planet category	main-belt · (middle)[3] background
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	27.59 yr (10,079 days)
Aphelion	2.9984 AU
Perihelion	2.2463 AU
Semi-major axis	2.6224 AU
Eccentricity	0.1434
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.25 yr (1,551 days)
Mean anomaly	277.29°
Mean motion	0° 13m 55.56s / day
Inclination	7.9950°
Longitude of ascending node	160.38°
Argument of perihelion	128.01°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	7.71±3.44 km[4] 9.329±0.056 km[5][6] 11.11 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	3.78±0.04 h[7]
Geometric albedo	0.057 (assumed)[3] 0.069±0.009[5][6] 0.130±0.086[4]
Spectral type	C[3][8]
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.4[4][5] · 13.5[1][3]

It was discovered on 26 September 1989, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile, and named after French Nobel Prize laureate in literature Albert Camus.[2][9]

Classification and orbit

Camus is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,551 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The asteroid's observation arc begins with its discovery, as no precoveries were taken and no identifications were made before 1989.[9]

Naming

This minor planet was named after French philosopher, author, and journalist, Albert Camus (1913–1960), who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.[2]

Camus is best known for his novels L'Etranger (The Stranger) and La Peste (The Plague). His main interests were justice, ethics, and politics. As a liberal humanist, he was against the doctrines of Christianity as well as Marxism.[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 March 2000 (M.P.C. 39658).[10]

Physical characteristics

Camus has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey.[8]

Lightcurves

In October 2006, a rotational lightcurve of Camus was obtained from photometric observations by Julian Oey at the Leura Observatory (E17) in Australia. The lightcurve rendered a rotation period of 3.78±0.04 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.40 in magnitude (U=3-).[7]

Diameter and albedo

According to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Camus has an albedo of 0.07 and 0.13 with a corresponding diameter of 9.3 and 7.7 kilometers, respectively.[4][5][6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a larger diameter of 11.1 kilometer with an absolute magnitude of 13.5.[3]

References

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (10001)-(15000) – Minor Planet Center
• 12696 Camus at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 12696 Camus at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters

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