Astronomy:50719 Elizabethgriffin

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50719 Elizabethgriffin
Discovery [1][2]
Discovered byCSS
Discovery siteMount Lemmon Obs.
Discovery date1 March 2000
Designations
(50719) Elizabethgriffin
Named afterElizabeth Griffin
(Canadian astronomer)
2000 EG140 · 2001 MV3
Minor planet categorymain-belt · Maria[3][4]
Orbital characteristics[2]
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc19.92 yr (7,276 d)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.9305 AU
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.2365 AU
2.5835 AU
Eccentricity0.1343
Orbital period4.15 yr (1,517 d)
Mean anomaly73.206°
Mean motion0° 14m 14.64s / day
Inclination14.303°
Longitude of ascending node262.84°
30.265°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter3.307±0.134 km[5][6]
Rotation period1256.0159±63.4351 h[7]
Geometric albedo0.370±0.065[5][6]
S[8]
Absolute magnitude (H)14.1[5]
14.2[1][2]
14.204±0.004 (R)[7]


50719 Elizabethgriffin (provisional designation 2000 EG140) is a stony Maria asteroid and exceptionally slow rotator from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.3 kilometers (2.1 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 March 2000, by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, United States. It was named for Canadian astronomer Elizabeth Griffin.[1]

Classification and orbit

The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Maria family (506),[3][4] located in the Eunomia region in the intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,517 days; semi-major axis of 2.58 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 14° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] A first precovery was taken at Lowell Observatory (LONEOS) in 1998, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 2 years prior to its discovery.[1]

Numbering and naming

This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 20 November 2002.[9] It was named after Elizabeth Griffin (born 1942) a Canadian astronomer who studies binary stars spectroscopically. She has been an advocate for the preservation and digitization of astronomic photographic plates.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 April 2019 (M.P.C. 112432).[9]

Physical characteristics

Slow rotator

In August 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Elizabethgriffin was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. It gave an exceptionally long rotation period of 1256 hours with a brightness variation of 0.42 magnitude ({{{1}}}).[7] This makes the asteroid the 5th slowest rotating minor planet known to exist.

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Elizabethgriffin measures 3.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.37,[5][6] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 3.4 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.65.[8]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "50719 (2000 EG140)". Minor Planet Center. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=50719. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 50719 (2000 EG140)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2050719. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Asteroid 50719 Elizabethgriffin". Small Bodies Data Ferret. https://sbntools.psi.edu/ferret/SimpleSearch/results.action?targetName=50719+Elizabethgriffin. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Asteroid (50719) Elizabethgriffin – Proper elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. https://newton.spacedys.com/astdys/index.php?n=50719&pc=1.1.6. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D. et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal 741 (2): 25. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Bibcode2011ApJ...741...90M. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J. et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal 741 (2): 20. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Bibcode2011ApJ...741...68M. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal 150 (3): 35. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Bibcode2015AJ....150...75W. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "LCDB Data for (50719)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=50719%7C. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html. 

External links