View source for Astronomy:46610 Bésixdouze

{{Infobox planet
 | minorplanet     = yes
 | name            = 46610 Bésixdouze 
 | background      = #D6D6D6
 | image           = 
 | image_size      = 
 | caption         = 
 | discovery_ref   = &thinsp;<ref name="jpldata" />
 | discoverer      = [[Biography:Kin Endate|K. Endate]]<br />[[Biography:Kazuro Watanabe|K. Watanabe]]
 | discovery_site  = Kitami Obs.
 | discovered      = 15 October 1993
 | mpc_name        = (46610) Bésixdouze
 | alt_names       = {{mp|1993 TQ|1}}{{·}}{{mp|1986 RU|7}}<br />{{mp|2000 VV|32}}
 | pronounced      = {{IPA-fr|be.sis.duːz}}
 | named_after     = Asteroid B-612<!-- do not wikilink: now leads to an Australian hard rock band -->&thinsp;<ref name="springer" /><br />(home of ''The Little Prince'')
 | mp_category     = main-belt&thinsp;<ref name="jpldata" />{{·}}{([[Astronomy:Kirkwood gap|inner]])<br />[[Astronomy:Background asteroid|background]]&thinsp;<ref name="AstDys-object" />
 | orbit_ref       = &thinsp;<ref name="jpldata" />
 | epoch           = 23 March 2018 ([[Astronomy:Julian day|JD]] 2458200.5)
 | uncertainty     = 0
 | observation_arc = 31.55 yr (11,525 days)
 | aphelion        = 2.6816 [[Astronomy:Astronomical unit|AU]]
 | perihelion      = 1.8581 AU
 | semimajor       = 2.2698 AU
 | eccentricity    = 0.1814
 | period          = 3.42 [[Astronomy:Julian year|yr]] (1,249 days)
 | mean_anomaly    = 52.86[[Degree (angle)|°]]
 | mean_motion     = {{Deg2DMS|0.2882|sup=ms}} / day
 | inclination     = 2.4053°
 | asc_node        = 172.13°
 | arg_peri        = 211.83°
 | dimensions      = {{val|2.064|0.499}} km<ref name="Masiero-2011" />
 | rotation        = 
 | albedo          = {{val|0.262|0.054}}<ref name="Masiero-2011" />
 | spectral_type   = 
 | abs_magnitude   = 15.4<ref name="jpldata" />
}}

'''46610 Bésixdouze''' ({{IPA-fr|be.sis.duːz}}; provisional designation '''{{mp|1993 TQ|1}}''') is a bright background [[Astronomy:Asteroid|asteroid]] from the inner regions of the [[Astronomy:Asteroid belt|asteroid belt]], approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1993, by Japanese amateur astronomers [[Biography:Kin Endate|Kin Endate]] and [[Biography:Kazuro Watanabe|Kazuro Watanabe]] at the Kitami Observatory in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan.<ref name="MPC-object" /> The asteroid was named after "B-612", home of ''The Little Prince''.<ref name="springer" />

== Orbit and classification ==
Bésixdouze is a non-[[Astronomy:Asteroid family|family]] asteroid from the main belt's [[Astronomy:Background asteroid|background population]].<ref name="AstDys-object" /> It orbits the Sun in the [[Astronomy:Kirkwood gap|inner]] main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.7&nbsp;[[Astronomy:Astronomical unit|AU]] once every 3 years and 5 months (1,249 days; semi-major axis of 2.27&nbsp;AU). Its orbit has an [[Astronomy:Orbital eccentricity|eccentricity]] of 0.18 and an [[Astronomy:Orbital inclination|inclination]] of 2[[Degree (angle)|°]] with respect to the [[Astronomy:Ecliptic|ecliptic]].<ref name="jpldata" />

The asteroid was first identified as {{mp|1986 RU|7}} at Crimea–Nauchnij in a single image taken in September 1986.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="MPC-object" />

== Physical characteristics ==

=== Diameter and albedo ===
According to the survey carried out by the [[Astronomy:NEOWISE|NEOWISE]] mission of NASA's [[Astronomy:Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer|Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer]], Bésixdouze measures 2.064 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an [[Astronomy:Astronomical albedo|albedo]] of 0.262,<ref name="Masiero-2011" /> which is indicative for a [[Astronomy:S-type asteroid|stony]] composition.

=== Rotation period ===
As of 2018, no rotational [[Astronomy:Lightcurve|lightcurve]] of Bésixdouze has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's [[Rotation period|rotation period]], poles and shape remain unknown.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="lcdb" />

== Naming ==
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|hexadecimal]] notation. Bésixdouze ({{IPA-fr|be.sis.duːz}}; "B-six-twelve") is one way to pronounce B-612 in French.<ref name="springer" /> Like the asteroid in ''The Little Prince'', Bésixdouze was first observed in a single night, several years before its official discovery.<ref name="MPC-object" />

The official naming citation was published by the [[Organization:Minor Planet Center|Minor Planet Center]] on 20 November 2002 ({{small|M.P.C. 47170}}).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" /> 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."<ref name="jpldata" />

== See also ==
* [[Astronomy:2578 Saint-Exupéry|2578 Saint-Exupéry]]
* [[Organization:B612 Foundation|B612 Foundation]]
* Petit-Prince (moon)

== References ==
{{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="jpldata">{{cite web
  |type       = 2017-11-02 last obs.
  |title      = JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 46610 Besixdouze (1993 TQ1)
  |url        = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2046610
  |publisher  = [[Organization:Jet Propulsion Laboratory|Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
  |access-date = 7 April 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="springer">{{cite book
  |title      = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (46610) Bésixdouze
  |last       = Schmadel | first = Lutz D.
  |publisher  = Springer Berlin Heidelberg
  |page       = 895
  |date       = 2007
  |isbn       = 978-3-540-00238-3
  |doi       = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_10040 |chapter       = (46610) Bésixdouze }}</ref>

<ref name="MPC-object">{{cite web
  |title      = 46610 Besixdouze (1993 TQ1)
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=46610
  |access-date = 7 April 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive">{{cite web
  |title      = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html
  |access-date = 30 November 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Masiero-2011">{{cite journal
  |display-authors = 6
  |first1     = Joseph R. |last1 = Masiero
  |first2     = A. K. |last2 = Mainzer
  |first3     = T. |last3 = Grav
  |first4     = J. M. |last4 = Bauer
  |first5     = R. M. |last5 = Cutri
  |first6     = J. |last6 = Dailey
  |first7     = P. R. M. |last7 = Eisenhardt
  |first8     = R. S. |last8 = McMillan
  |first9     = T. B. |last9 = Spahr
  |first10    = M. F. |last10 = Skrutskie
  |first11    = D. |last11 = Tholen
  |first12    = R. G. |last12 = Walker
  |first13    = E. L. |last13 = Wright
  |first14    = E. |last14 = DeBaun
  |first15    = D. |last15 = Elsbury
  |first16    = T. IV |last16 = Gautier
  |first17    = S. |last17 = Gomillion
  |first18    = A. |last18 = Wilkins
  |date       = November 2011
  |title      = Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters
  |url        = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2011ApJ...741...68M
  |journal    = The Astrophysical Journal
  |volume     = 741
  |issue      = 2
  |page       = 20
  |bibcode    = 2011ApJ...741...68M
  |doi        = 10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68
  |arxiv      = 1109.4096
  |access-date= 30 November 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="AstDys-object">{{cite web
  |title      = Asteroid 46610 Besixdouze – Proper Elements
  |publisher  = AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site
  |url        = https://newton.spacedys.com/astdys/index.php?pc=1.1.6&n=46610
  |access-date= 29 October 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="lcdb">{{cite web
  |title      = LCDB Data for (46610) Bésixdouze
  |publisher  = Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
  |url        = http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=46610%7CBésixdouze
  |access-date = 7 April 2018}}</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

== External links ==
* [http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/lcdbsummaryquery.php Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)], query form ([http://www.minorplanet.info/lightcurvedatabase.html info] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216050541/http://www.minorplanet.info/lightcurvedatabase.html |date=16 December 2017 }})
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg Dictionary of Minor Planet Names], Google books
* [http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR] – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
* [https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/NumberedMPs045001.html Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (45001)-(50000)] – Minor Planet Center
* {{AstDys|46610}}
* {{JPL small body}}

{{Small Solar System bodies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besixdouze}}
[[Category:Background asteroids|046610]]
[[Category:Named minor planets]]

{{Sourceattribution|46610 Bésixdouze}}