astro.wikisort.org - Asteroid

18880 Toddblumberg, provisional designation 1999 XM₁₆₆, is a background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 December 1999, by LINEAR at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site, near Socorro, New Mexico, United States.[4] The asteroid was named after Todd Blumberg, a 2003 ISEF contest awardee.[2]

18880 Toddblumberg

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	LINEAR
Discovery site	Lincoln Lab's ETS
Discovery date	10 December 1999
Designations
MPC designation	(18880) Toddblumberg
Named after	Todd James Blumberg (2003 ISEF awardee)[2]
Alternative designations	1999 XM166 · 1976 UC20
Minor planet category	main-belt (outer)[1] background
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	63.35 yr (23,140 days)
Aphelion	3.7961 AU
Perihelion	2.6135 AU
Semi-major axis	3.2048 AU
Eccentricity	0.1845
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.74 yr (2,096 days)
Mean anomaly	45.170°
Mean motion	0° 10m 18.48s / day
Inclination	9.6539°
Longitude of ascending node	19.849°
Argument of perihelion	29.542°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	4.283±0.438 km[3]
Geometric albedo	0.265±0.082[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.1[1]

Orbit and classification

Toddblumberg orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,096 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory (DSS) in 1953, extending the body's observation arc by 46 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.[4]

Although discovered by LINEAR, Toddblumberg is not a near-Earth asteroid. Its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is about double the maximum distance of 1.3 AU that qualifies an asteroid as "near-Earth".[5]

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Toddblumberg measures 4.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.265.[3]

Lightcurve

As of 2017, Toddblumberg's spectral type and rotation period remain unknown.[1][6]

Naming

This minor planet was named for Todd James Blumberg (born 1984), a student at the Plano Senior High School in Plano, Texas, who won the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) award for his microbiology project in 2003.[2][7]

Since 2001, hundreds of secondary school students who have won awards at science fairs have had asteroids named after them.[8][9] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 30 August 2004 (M.P.C. 52648).[10]

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 (15001)-(20000) – Minor Planet Center
• 18880 Toddblumberg at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 18880 Toddblumberg at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters

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