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5642 Bobbywilliams

Stony asteroid and Mars-crosser

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
name	5642 Bobbywilliams
background	#FA8072
discovery_ref
discovered	27 July 1990
discoverer	H. E. Holt
discovery_site	Palomar Obs.
mpc_name	(5642) Bobbywilliams
alt_names
named_after	Bobby G. Williams
(JPL engineer)
mp_category	Mars-crosser
orbit_ref
epoch	4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
uncertainty	0
observation_arc	41.97 yr (15,330 days)
aphelion	3.0867 AU
perihelion	1.5454 AU
semimajor	2.3161 AU
eccentricity	0.3327
period	3.52 yr (1,287 days)
mean_anomaly	235.13°
mean_motion	/ day
inclination	24.956°
asc_node	310.12°
arg_peri	39.038°
dimensions	4.71 km (calculated)
rotation	h
albedo	0.20 (assumed)
spectral_type	S
abs_magnitude	14.0

(JPL engineer)

5642 Bobbywilliams, provisional designation , is an eccentric, stony asteroid and Mars-crosser from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.7 kilometers in diameter.

It was discovered on 27 July 1990, by American astronomer Henry E. Holt at Palomar Observatory in California, United States. The asteroid was named for JPL engineer Bobby Williams.

Orbit and classification

Bobbywilliams orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.5–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,287 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.33 and an inclination of 25° with respect to the ecliptic. A first precovery was taken at the Australian Siding Spring Observatory in 1975, extending the body's observation arc by 15 years prior to its official discovery at Palomar.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In July 2011, a rotational lightcurve of Bobbywilliams was obtained from photometric observations by astronomer Julian Oey at both the Australian Kingsgrove (E19) and Leura (E17) observatories. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of hours with a brightness variation of 0.05 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 4.71 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.0.

Naming

This minor planet was named for Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Bobby G. Williams (born 1951), specialized in celestial mechanics and the navigation of space probes. He has been a leading navigation manager when NEAR Shoemaker had its rendezvous with the asteroids 253 Mathilde and 433 Eros, The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 28 July 1999 (M.P.C. 35483).

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.

mars-crossing-asteroids discoveries-by-henry-e.-holt named-minor-planets astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1990

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