22577 Alfiuccio, provisional designation 1998 HT51, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2.4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 April 1998, by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search at Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[5] It was named in memory of Alfio Grasso, an Italian boy from Sicily.[2]
Discovery [1] | |
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Discovered by | LONEOS |
Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
Discovery date | 30 April 1998 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | (22577) Alfiuccio |
Named after | Alfio "Alfiuccio" Grasso (Italian boy)[2] |
Alternative designations | 1998 HT51 · 1999 UZ8 |
Minor planet category | main-belt · Flora [3] |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 20.11 yr (7,345 days) |
Aphelion | 2.6306 AU |
Perihelion | 1.9499 AU |
Semi-major axis | 2.2903 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.1486 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 3.47 yr (1,266 days) |
Mean anomaly | 123.89° |
Mean motion | 0° 17m 3.84s / day |
Inclination | 3.8671° |
Longitude of ascending node | 65.751° |
Argument of perihelion | 251.04° |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 2.40 km (calculated)[3] |
Synodic rotation period | 4.3704±0.0024 h[4] |
Geometric albedo | 0.24 (assumed)[3] |
Spectral type | S [3] |
Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.8[1] · 14.816±0.010 (R)[4] · 15.27[3] |
Alfiuccio is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest families of stony asteroids. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,266 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
The asteroid's observation arc begins 20 months prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken at the Chinese Xinglong Station in December 1996.[5]
In December 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Alfiuccio was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band at the Palomar Transient Factory, California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 4.3704 hours with a brightness variation of 0.36 magnitude (U=2).[4]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 2.4 kilometers, based on a weaker absolute magnitude of 15.27.[3]
This minor planet was named in memory of Alfio "Alfiuccio" Grasso (1992–2004) who died in a hunting accident on the slopes of Mount Etna, Italy. The body's name was proposed by C. Blanco and M. Di Martino.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 August 2009 (M.P.C. 66725).[6]
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