13123 Tyson
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Shoemaker D. H. Levy |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 May 1994 |
| Designations | |
Named after | Neil deGrasse Tyson (American astrophysicist)[2] |
| 1994 KA · 1995 YO2 | |
| main-belt · Phocaea[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.78 yr (23,297 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9996 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.7201 AU |
| 2.3598 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2711 |
| 3.63 yr (1,324 days) | |
| 78.622° | |
| 0° 16m 18.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 23.289° |
| 68.802° | |
| 252.04° | |
| Known satellites | 1[5][6][a] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.22 km (calculated)[3] 10.87±0.61 km[7] |
| 3.329±0.001 h[8] 3.3303±0.0002 h[5][a] | |
| 0.197±0.025[7] 0.23 (assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.19±0.09 (R)[5] · 12.20[7] · 12.3[1] · 12.41±0.41[9] · 12.64[3] | |
13123 Tyson, provisional designation 1994 KA, is a stony Phocaea asteroid and an asynchronous binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on May 16, 1994, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker and Canadian astronomer David Levy at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States.[10] The asteroid was named for Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and popular science communicator.[2]
Orbit and classification
[edit]The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family (701),[4] a rather small group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, named after its largest member, 25 Phocaea. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,324 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.27 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was taken at Palomar's Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) in 1953, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 41 years prior to its discovery.[10]
Physical characteristics
[edit]Rotation period
[edit]In February 2015, a rotational lightcurve was obtained by astronomer Petr Pravec at the Astronomical Institute, Czech Republic. It showed a well-defined