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51823 Rickhusband
Main-belt asteroid
Main-belt asteroid
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| minorplanet | yes |
| name | 51823 Rickhusband |
| background | #D6D6D6 |
| discovery_ref | |
| discoverer | NEAT |
| discovery_site | Palomar Obs. |
| discovered | 18 July 2001 |
| mpc_name | (51823) Rickhusband |
| alt_names | |
| named_after | Rick Husband |
| (American astronaut) | |
| mp_category | main-belt(outer) |
| Lixiaohua | |
| orbit_ref | |
| epoch | 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) |
| uncertainty | 0 |
| observation_arc | 22.10 yr (8,073 days) |
| aphelion | 3.8268 AU |
| perihelion | 2.4604 AU |
| semimajor | 3.1436 AU |
| eccentricity | 0.2173 |
| period | 5.57 yr (2,036 days) |
| mean_anomaly | 244.46° |
| mean_motion | / day |
| inclination | 11.556° |
| asc_node | 58.048° |
| arg_peri | 347.14° |
| dimensions | km |
| albedo | |
| abs_magnitude | 14.3 |
(American astronaut) Lixiaohua
51823 Rickhusband (provisional designation ****) is a dark Lixiaohua asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 18 July 2001, by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking at Palomar Observatory in California, United States. The asteroid was named after American astronaut Rick Husband, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Orbit and classification
Rickhusband is a member of the Lixiaohua family, an outer-belt asteroid family of more than 700 known members, which consists of C- and X-type asteroids.
It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,036 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.
The body's observation arc begins with its first identification as by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak Observatory in May 1994, more than 7 years prior to its official discovery observation by NEAT.
Physical characteristics
Rotation period
As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Rickhusband has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid's rotation period, poles and shape remains unknown.
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Rickhusband measures 8.731 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.048.
Naming
This minor planet was named in memory of American astronaut Rick Husband (1957–2003), who was the commander of STS-107 and was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on 1 February 2003. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 August 2003 (M.P.C. 49283).
References
- Orbital simulation and data for 51823 Rickhusband
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info )
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (50001)-(55000) – Minor Planet Center
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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