astro.wikisort.org - Asteroid

31641 Cevasco, provisional designation 1999 GW₃₄, is a stony Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 6 April 1999, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site in Socorro, New Mexico, United States. The asteroid was named for Hannah Cevasco, a 2015 Broadcom MASTERS awardee.[2]

31641 Cevasco

Discovery [1]
Discovered by	LINEAR
Discovery site	Lincoln Lab's ETS
Discovery date	6 April 1999
Designations
MPC designation	(31641) Cevasco
Named after	Hannah Olivia Cevasco (Broadcom MASTERS awardee)[2]
Alternative designations	1999 GW34 · 1993 RR14
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner) [3] Nysa
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	23.42 yr (8,554 days)
Aphelion	2.7515 AU
Perihelion	2.1234 AU
Semi-major axis	2.4374 AU
Eccentricity	0.1289
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.81 yr (1,390 days)
Mean anomaly	347.07°
Inclination	1.2136°
Longitude of ascending node	278.36°
Argument of perihelion	215.87°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	2.737±0.168[4][5] 3.26 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	2.6556±0.1936 h[3] 2.8167±0.0127 h[6] 2.820±0.010 h[7]
Geometric albedo	0.20 (assumed)[3] 0.3108±0.0672[4] 0.311±0.067[5]
Spectral type	S [3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.8[1][3] · 14.940[7]

Orbit and classification

Cevasco orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,390 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]

The asteroid's observation arc begins 6 years prior to its official discovery observation, with its first identification as 1993 RR₁₄ at ESO's La Silla Observatory in 1993.[2]

Physical characteristics

Lightcurves

Three rotational lightcurves of Cevasco were obtained from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory between 2010 and 2014. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 2.6556, 2.8167 and 2.820 hours with a brightness variation of 0.71, 0.48 and 0.54 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2/2).[6][7]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Cevasco measures 2.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.311,[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.3 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.8.[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Hannah Olivia Cevasco (born 2000) finalist in the 2015 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her medicine and health sciences project. At the time she attended the St. Charles School in California.[2]

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 (30001)-(35000) – Minor Planet Center
• 31641 Cevasco at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 31641 Cevasco at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters

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