4867 Polites

Orbit and classification

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

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.1–5.3 AU once every 11 years and 9 months (4,285 days; semi-major axis of 5.16 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.02 and an inclination of 27° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as ** at Palomar in September 1988, or one year prior to its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Polites is an assumed C-type asteroid. Its V–I color index of 1.01 is one of the highest among the larger Jupiter trojans (see table below).

Rotation period

In August 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Polites was obtained from photometric observations over five nights by Linda French at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Lightcurve analysis gave a tentative rotation period of 9.21 hours with a low brightness variation of 0.09 magnitude ().

Follow-up observations on a yearly basis by Robert D. Stephens and Daniel Coley at the Center for Solar System Studies gave several lightcurves during 2013–2018. The best-rated one from January 2016 gave a period of hours and an amplitude of 0.15 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, Polites measures between 57.25 and 65.16 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.071 and 0.078. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 58.29 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.9.

Naming

This minor planet was named by the discoverer from Greek mythology after the Trojan prince Polites, son of King Priam and Hecuba. He was killed with a spear handled by Achille's son Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus), who was the most ruthless of the Greeks. During the fall of Troy, he invaded Priam's great house and chased Polites until he cornered and slaughtered him in front of his parents.

The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 June 1993 (M.P.C. 22248).

Notes

References

References

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