1994 Shane, provisional designation 1961 TE, is a dark Adeonian asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers in diameter.
Discovery[1] | |
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Discovered by | Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program) |
Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
Discovery date | 4 October 1961 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | (1994) Shane |
Named after | C. Donald Shane[2] (American astronomer) |
Alternative designations | 1961 TE · 1939 RN |
Minor planet category | main-belt · (middle) [3] Adeona[4] |
Orbital characteristics[1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 77.64 yr (28,358 days) |
Aphelion | 3.2332 AU |
Perihelion | 2.1282 AU |
Semi-major axis | 2.6807 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.2061 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 4.39 yr (1,603 days) |
Mean anomaly | 298.87° |
Mean motion | 0° 13m 28.56s / day |
Inclination | 10.217° |
Longitude of ascending node | 244.73° |
Argument of perihelion | 89.669° |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 17.91±0.93 km[5] 25.00 km (derived)[3] 25.15±0.6 km (IRAS:19)[6] |
Synodic rotation period | 8 h[7] 8.220±0.001 h[8] |
Geometric albedo | 0.0340 (derived)[3] 0.0640±0.003 (IRAS:19)[6] 0.129±0.014[5] |
Spectral type | S[3] |
Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.6[5][6] · 11.81±0.86[9] · 12.3[1][3] |
It was discovered on 4 October 1961, by astronomers of the Indiana Asteroid Program conducted at the Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.[10] It was later named after American astronomer C. Donald Shane.[2]
Shane is a member of the Adeona family (505), a large family of carbonaceous asteroids.[4]
The asteroid orbits the Sun in the intermediate main belt at a distance of 2.1–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,603 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] It was first identified as 1939 RN at Simeiz Observatory in 1939, extending Shane's observation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation at Goethe.[10]
In October 2009, a rotational lightcurve of Shane was obtained from photometric observations at the Via Capote Observatory (G69) in California. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 8.22 hours with a brightness variation of 0.26 magnitude (U=3),[8] superseding a previously obtained period of 8 hours from 1996 (U=n.a.).[7]
According to observations made by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, Shane has an albedo of 0.06,[6] while the survey carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite rendered a higher albedo of 0.13 with a corresponding diameter of 18 kilometers.[5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an even lower albedo of 0.04, yet does not classify it as a carbonaceous but rather as a S-type asteroid, which typically have much higher albedos due to their stony surface composition.[3]
This minor planet was named after American astronomer Charles Donald Shane (1895–1983), director of Lick Observatory, second president of AURA, and instrumental for the establishment of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
Shane played a major role in the planning and construction of the first telescopes and buildings on Kitt Peak National Observatory as well.[2] The 3-meter C. Donald Shane telescope, located at Lick Observatory, was also named after him. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 March 1981 (M.P.C. 5848).[11]
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