46610 Bésixdouze (French pronunciation: [be.sis.duːz]), provisional designation 1993 TQ1, is a bright background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1993, by Japanese amateur astronomers Kin Endate and Kazuro Watanabe at the Kitami Observatory in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan.[5] The asteroid was named after "B-612", home of The Little Prince.[2]
Discovery [1] | |
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Discovered by | K. Endate K. Watanabe |
Discovery site | Kitami Obs. |
Discovery date | 15 October 1993 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | (46610) Bésixdouze |
Pronunciation | French pronunciation: [be.sis.duːz] |
Named after | Asteroid B-612 [2] (home of The Little Prince) |
Alternative designations | 1993 TQ1 · 1986 RU7 2000 VV32 |
Minor planet category | main-belt [1] · (inner) background [3] |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 31.55 yr (11,525 days) |
Aphelion | 2.6816 AU |
Perihelion | 1.8581 AU |
Semi-major axis | 2.2698 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.1814 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 3.42 yr (1,249 days) |
Mean anomaly | 52.86° |
Mean motion | 0° 17m 17.52s / day |
Inclination | 2.4053° |
Longitude of ascending node | 172.13° |
Argument of perihelion | 211.83° |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 2.064±0.499 km[4] |
Geometric albedo | 0.262±0.054[4] |
Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.4[1] |
Bésixdouze is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.[3] It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,249 days; semi-major axis of 2.27 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
The asteroid was first identified as 1986 RU7 at Crimea–Nauchnij in a single image taken in September 1986.[1][5]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Bésixdouze measures 2.064 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.262,[4] which is indicative for a stony composition.
As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of Bésixdouze has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, poles and shape remain unknown.[1][6]
The name was suggested by F. Hemery and Jiří Grygar as a reference to the French novella The Little Prince. The title character lived on an asteroid named B-612, which is the number 46610 written in hexadecimal notation. Bésixdouze (French pronunciation: [be.sis.duːz]; "B-six-twelve") is one way to pronounce B-612 in French.[2] Like the asteroid in The Little Prince, Bésixdouze was first observed in a single night, several years before its official discovery.[5]
The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 November 2002 (M.P.C. 47170).[7] It says:
"The decimal number 46610 translates to the hexadecimal B612, the designation of the fictitious minor planet in de St. Exupéry's 1943 novel Le Petit Prince. B612 was allegedly spotted on a single night in 1909 and reported at a meeting in 1920. The name was suggested independently by F. Hémery and J. Grygar."[1]
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