3192 A'Hearn, provisional designation 1982 BY1, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, on 30 January 1982.[6]
Discovery [1] | |
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Discovered by | E. Bowell |
Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
Discovery date | 30 January 1982 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | (3192) A'Hearn |
Named after | Michael A'Hearn (astronomer)[2] |
Alternative designations | 1982 BY1 · 1975 JN |
Minor planet category | main-belt · (inner) [3] |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 41.29 yr (15,081 days) |
Aphelion | 2.7782 AU |
Perihelion | 1.9767 AU |
Semi-major axis | 2.3774 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.1686 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 3.67 yr (1,339 days) |
Mean anomaly | 251.29° |
Mean motion | 0° 16m 8.04s / day |
Inclination | 2.8791° |
Longitude of ascending node | 56.726° |
Argument of perihelion | 91.584° |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 4.361±0.700[4] 5.66 km (calculated)[3] |
Synodic rotation period | 3.160 h[5] |
Geometric albedo | 0.20 (assumed)[3] 0.354±0.166[4] |
Spectral type | SMASS = C [1] · C [3] |
Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.6[1][3] |
The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,339 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was obtained at El Leoncito in 1975, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 7 years prior to its discovery.[6]
A rotational lightcurve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made by Japanese astronomer Sunao Hasegawa, using the 1.05-meter Schmidt telescope at Kiso Observatory in March 2004. It showed a well-defined rotation period of 3.16 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 in magnitude (U=3).[5] According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 4.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.354.[4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 – despite the fact that the body has been classified as a carbonaceous C-type – and calculates a diameter of 5.7 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.6.[3]
This minor planet was named for American cometary astronomer and professor of astronomy at CMNS, Michael A'Hearn (b. 1940), known for his contribution to cometary science, especially for his wide-range spectroscopic and spectrophotometric observations. He participated in the space-based EPOXI and IUE mission, which, in 1983, detected for the first time the presence of cometary diatomic sulfur while observing Comet IRAS–Araki–Alcock's spectrum.[2][7] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 June 1986 (M.P.C. 10848).[8]
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