Astronomy:9921 Rubincam

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9921 Rubincam
AnimatedOrbitOf99211981EO18.gif
Orbit of Rubincam (blue), inner planets and Jupiter (outermost)
Discovery [1]
Discovered byS. J. Bus
Discovery siteSiding Spring Obs.
Discovery date2 March 1981
Designations
(9921) Rubincam
Named afterDavid Rubincam
(American geophysicist)[2]
1981 EO18
Minor planet categorymain-belt · (inner)[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc63.45 yr (23,175 days)
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.5174 AU
|{{{apsis}}}|helion}}2.2352 AU
2.3763 AU
Eccentricity0.0594
Orbital period3.66 yr (1,338 days)
Mean anomaly91.234°
Mean motion0° 16m 8.76s / day
Inclination2.4008°
Longitude of ascending node331.39°
89.205°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions4.10 km (calculated)[3]
4.250±0.094 km[4][5]
Rotation period8.01±0.03 h[6]
8.014±0.0017 h[7]
Geometric albedo0.20 (assumed)[3]
0.204±0.035[4][5]
S[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)14.2[4] · 14.276±0.001 (R)[7] · 14.3[1][3]


9921 Rubincam, provisional designation 1981 EO18, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 March 1981, by American astronomer Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia, and later named after American geophysicist David Rubincam.[2]

Orbit and classification

Rubincam is a stony S-type asteroid that orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,338 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] A first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1953, extending the body's observation arc by 28 years prior to its official discovery at Siding Spring.[2]

Physical characteristics

Lightcurves

In February 2010, two rotational lightcurves of Rubincam were obtained from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 8.01 and 8.014 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.33 and 0.31 in magnitude, respectively ({{{1}}}).[6][7]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Rubincam measures 4.250 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.204,[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 4.1 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.3.[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named after David Rubincam (born 1947), an American solid-earth geophysicist and planetary geodynamicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He was the first to study the influence of the radiation recoil effects on an asteroid's rotation period and spin axis, which he later named the Yarkovsky–O'Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack effect or YORP effect for short.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 28 September 2015 (M.P.C. 95803).[8]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 9921 Rubincam (1981 EO18)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009921. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "9921 Rubincam (1981 EO18)". Minor Planet Center. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=9921. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "LCDB Data for (9921) Rubincam". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=9921%7CRubincam. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 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. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 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. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Polishook, D.; Ofek, E. O.; Waszczak, A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Gal-Yam, A.; Aharonson, O. et al. (April 2012). "Asteroid rotation periods from the Palomar Transient Factory survey". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 421 (3): 2094–2108. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20462.x. Bibcode2012MNRAS.421.2094P. 
  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. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html. 

External links