2357 Phereclos

Orbit and classification

Phereclos is a dark Jovian asteroid orbiting in the trailing Trojan camp at Jupiter's Lagrangian point, 60° behind its orbit in a 1:1 resonance (see Trojans in astronomy). This Jupiter trojan is also a non-family asteroid of the Jovian background population.

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.0–5.4 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,344 days; semi-major axis of 5.21 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid was first observed as ** at Lowell Observatory in September 1929. The body's observation arc begins at Lowell one month later with a precovery taken in October 1929, or more than 51 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.

Physical characteristics

Phereclos is a dark D-type asteroid, according to the Tholen classification, the SDSS-based taxonomy and the survey conducted by Pan-STARRS.

Rotation period

In July 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Phereclos was obtained from photometric observations by Stefano Mottola using the 1.2-meter telescope at Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 14.394 hours with a low brightness variation of 0.09 magnitude (), indicative of a nearly spherical shape.

Between 2010 and 2017, photometric follow-up observations by Robert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies, California, gave several, concurring periods of 7.16 (half-period), 14.345 and 14.49 hours.

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Phereclos measures between 94.62 and 98.45 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.049 and 0.0521.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0521 and a diameter of 94.90 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.94.

Naming

This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after the skilled craftsman and shipbuilder Phereclos (Phereclus; Phereklos), who constructed the ship that Paris used to kidnap Helen. During the Trojan War, he was killed by the Greek hero Meriones. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 August 1981 (M.P.C. 6208).

Notes

References

References

1. 'Phereclus' Noah Webster (1884) ''A Practical Dictionary of the English Language''