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4057 Demophon

Trojan asteroid

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
name	4057 Demophon
background	#C2FFFF
discovery_ref
discoverer	E. Bowell
discovery_site	Anderson Mesa Stn.
discovered	15 October 1985
mpc_name	(4057) Demophon
alt_names	1985 TQ
adjective	Demophontian
pronounced
named_after	Demophon of Athens
(Greek mythology)
mp_category	Jupiter trojan
Greekbackground
orbit_ref
epoch	23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
uncertainty	0
observation_arc	32.65 yr (11,927 d)
aphelion	5.8832 AU
perihelion	4.6425 AU
semimajor	5.2628 AU
eccentricity	0.1179
period	12.07 yr (4,410 d)
mean_anomaly	197.56°
mean_motion	/ day
inclination	2.8706°
asc_node	24.383°
arg_peri	58.875°
jupiter_moid	0.0724 AU
tisserand	2.9840
mean_diameter
(calculated)
rotation
albedo	(assumed)

spectral_type	C (assumed)
V–I
abs_magnitude	10.1

(Greek mythology) Greekbackground (calculated)

V–I

4057 Demophon is a larger Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 46 km in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1985 by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station of the Lowell Observatory near Flagstaff, Arizona. The dark Jovian asteroid has a longer-than-average rotation period of 29.8 hours. It was named after the Athen prince Demophon who fought in the Trojan War.

Orbit and classification

Demophon is a dark Jovian asteroid in a 1:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter. It is located in the leading Greek camp at the Gas Giant's Lagrangian point, 60° ahead on its orbit . It is also a non-family asteroid of the Jovian background population.

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.6–5.9 AU once every 12 years and 1 month (4,410 days; semi-major axis of 5.26 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Crimea–Nauchnij in September 1985, just three weeks prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.

Physical characteristics

Demophon is an assumed, carbonaceous C-type asteroid. It has a high V–I color index of 1.06. Most larger Jupiter trojans are D-type asteroids.

Rotation period

In June 1994, a first rotational lightcurve of Demophon was obtained from photometric observations by Stefano Mottola and Anders Erikson using the Dutch 0.9-metre Telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 29.31 hours with a brightness variation of 0.23 magnitude ().

In August 2015, photometric observations by the Kepler space telescope rendered another two lightcurves (). The best-rated one showed a period of hours and a brightness variation of 0.21 magnitude. Most asteroids have a shorter rotation period between 2 and 20 hours (also see List of slow rotators).

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Demophon measures 45.68 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.077, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 53.16 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.1.

Naming

This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after the Athen prince Demophon, son of King Theseus and Phaedra. After participation in the Trojan War, Demophon married Phyllis, who committed suicide after he had abandoned her. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 April 1997 (M.P.C. 29669).

References

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

Info: Wikipedia Source

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