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3333 Schaber

Main-belt asteroid


Main-belt asteroid

FieldValue
minorplanetyes
name3333 Schaber
background#D6D6D6
discovery_ref
discovererC. Shoemaker
discovery_sitePalomar Obs.
discovered9 October 1980
mpc_name(3333) Schaber
alt_names1964 WR
named_afterGerald Gene Schaber
(American geologist)
mp_categorymain-belt(outer)
background
orbit_ref
epoch23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
uncertainty0
observation_arc52.42 yr (19,147 d)
aphelion3.8276 AU
perihelion2.4390 AU
semimajor3.1333 AU
eccentricity0.2216
period5.55 yr (2,026 d)
mean_anomaly333.25°
mean_motion/ day
inclination11.967°
asc_node231.17°
arg_peri66.155°
mean_diameter(calculated)
rotation
albedo
0.057 (assumed)
spectral_typeC (assumed)
abs_magnitude11.711.80

(American geologist) background

0.057 (assumed)

3333 Schaber, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 26 km in diameter. It was discovered on 9 October 1980, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The presumably elongated C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 10.97 hours. It was named after American geologist Gerald Schaber of the USGS.

Orbit and classification

Schaber is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.4–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,026 days; semi-major axis of 3.13 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.

The asteroid was first observed as at the Purple Mountain Observatory in November 1969. The body's observation arc begins at Palomar on 7 October 1980, or two nights prior to its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Schaber is an assumed C-type asteroid.

Rotation period

In September 2009, a rotational lightcurve of Schaber was obtained from photometric observations by Maurice Clark at the Montgomery College Observatory in Maryland. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 10.971 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.46 magnitude, indicative for a somewhat elongated shape ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Schaber measures 26.538 and 27.67 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.048 and 0.044, respectively.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 25.44 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.7.

Naming

This minor planet was named after American Gerald Gene Schaber, geologist with the United States Geological Survey, who headed the USGS's astrogeology branch in the 1980s. He has studied the geology of the Moon, Mars, Venus and Mercury as well as that of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. Schaber also named the North Complex, a feature on the lunar surface. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 March 1986 (M.P.C. 10549).

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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