274301 Wikipedia

Etymology

The decision of the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature to assign the name "Wikipedia" to the asteroid was published in the Minor Planet Circulars on 27 January 2013 (M.P.C. 82403). The asteroid received the number . The name was proposed by Andriy Makukha, a board member of Wikimedia Ukraine. It was submitted to the Committee by the owner of the observatory, Yuri Ivashchenko. It reads:

Observation

The asteroid now named Wikipedia was discovered by astronomers from the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in Ukraine, the country's only privately owned observatory, which has discovered over 120 asteroids since 2003. It was first observed by the Andrushivka team on 25 August 2008 at 22:47 UTC. It was also observed on the next night and it received provisional designation . After it was also observed on 6 September by the Andrushivka team, the orbit of the asteroid was calculated accurately. It was shown that the asteroid was the same as and previously spotted by observatories Caussols-ODAS (France), Mount Lemmon Survey and Steward Observatory (both in Arizona, U.S.).

Characteristics

Wikipedia is a member of the Vesta family (401), one of the most numerous asteroid families in the asteroid belt. It is located in the proximity of 21791 Mattweegman, one of the family's principal members. Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulate eucrites (HED meteorites). They are thought to have originated deep within Vesta's crust, possibly from the Rheasilvia crater, a large impact crater on its southern hemisphere which formed as the result of a subcatastrophic collision. Wikipedia orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0 - once every 3 years and 8 months (1,342 days; semi-major axis of 2.38 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's observation arc begins almost 11 years prior to its official discovery, with its first observation being by the ODAS survey in September 1997.

References

• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (270001)-(275000), Minor Planet Center
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google Books

References

1. (14 September 2008). "MPS 255948". Minor Planet Center.
2. (18 April 2011). "MPC 74684". Minor Planet Center.
3. Workman, Robert. (5 February 2013). "'Wikipedia' is in space — as an asteroid". NBC News.
4. (31 January 2013). "Астероїд, відкритий в Україні, було названо "Вікіпедія"". RegioNews.