1980 Tezcatlipoca , provisional designation 1950 LA , is an eccentric, stony
asteroid and
near-Earth object of the
Amor group , approximately 6 kilometers (4 mi) in diameter.
It was discovered on 19 June 1950, by American astronomer
Albert Wilson and Swedish astronomer
Åke Wallenquist at the U.S.
Palomar Observatory in California.
[3] It was named after the Aztec deity
Tezcatlipoca .
[2]
Orbit and classification
Tezcatlipoca orbits the Sun in the
inner main-belt at a distance of 1.1–2.3
AU once every 2 years and 3 months (816 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.36 and an
inclination of 27
° with respect to the
ecliptic .
[1]
This
near-Earth object has an Earth
minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.2455 AU (36,700,000 km), which corresponds to 95.6
lunar distances .
[1] The body's
observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar.
[3]
Physical characteristics
The
S-type asteroid is classified as a Sw-type by the ExploreNEOs project,
[16] and as a SU and Sl-type on the
Tholen and
SMASS taxonomic scheme, respectively.
[1]
Between 1988 and 2015, five rotational
lightcurves of Tezcatlipoca were obtained from
photometric observations and gave a well-defined, concurring
rotation period of 7.25 hours with a brightness variation between 0.22 and 1.01 in
magnitude , indicative of a non-spheroidal shape (
U=3/n.a./2+/3-/n.a. ).
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese
Akari satellite and NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent
NEOWISE mission, Tezcatlipoca measures between 4.36 and 6.012 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an
albedo between 0.128 and 0.26.
[4]
[5]
[6]
[8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the revised NEOWISE observations, that is, an albedo of 0.128 and a diameter of 6.0 kilometers with an
absolute magnitude of 13.96.
[7]
Naming
This
minor planet was named after Tezcatlipoca, the
Aztec deity of matter, whose name translates to "Smoking Mirror" in the Nahuatl language. His animal counterpart was the
jaguar and his contender was Quetzálcoatl, after which the minor planet
1915 Quetzálcoatl is named. Both deities are
Aztec creator gods and were depicted as twin serpents that coil round each other to produce time.
[2] The official
naming citation was published by the
Minor Planet Center on 15 October 1977 (
M.P.C. 4237 ).
[18]
References
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
"JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1980 Tezcatlipoca (1950 LA)" (2017-06-05 last obs.).
Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 10 June 2017 .
^
a
b
c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1980) Tezcatlipoca". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1980) Tezcatlipoca .
Springer Berlin Heidelberg . p. 160.
doi :
10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1981 .
ISBN
978-3-540-00238-3 .
^
a
b
c
"1980 Tezcatlipoca (1950 LA)" . Minor Planet Center . Retrieved 30 August 2016 .
^
a
b
c
d Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Kramer, E. A.; Grav, T.; et al. (September 2016).
"NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year Two: Asteroid Diameters and Albedos" . The Astronomical Journal . 152 (3): 12.
arXiv :
1606.08923 .
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2016AJ....152...63N .
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10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/63 .
^
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b
c
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Bibcode :
2011PASJ...63.1117U .
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online ,
AcuA catalog p. 153 )
^
a
b
c
d Pravec, Petr; Harris, Alan W.; Kusnirák, Peter; Galád, Adrián; Hornoch, Kamil (September 2012).
"Absolute magnitudes of asteroids and a revision of asteroid albedo estimates from WISE thermal observations" . Icarus . 221 (1): 365–387.
Bibcode :
2012Icar..221..365P .
doi :
10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.026 . Retrieved 30 August 2016 .
^
a
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c
d
e
"LCDB Data for (1980) Tezcatlipoca" . Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 30 August 2016 .
^
a
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c
d Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal . 741 (2): 25.
arXiv :
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Bibcode :
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doi :
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S2CID
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^
a
b
c Harris, Alan W.; Davies, John K. (December 1999).
"Physical Characteristics of Near-Earth Asteroids from Thermal Infrared Spectrophotometry" . Icarus . 142 (2): 464–475.
Bibcode :
1999Icar..142..464H .
doi :
10.1006/icar.1999.6248 . Retrieved 30 August 2016 .
^
a
b Behrend, Raoul.
"Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (1980) Tezcatlipoca" .
Geneva Observatory . Retrieved 30 August 2016 .
^
a
b
c Wisniewski, W. Z.; Michalowski, T. M.; Harris, A. W.; McMillan, R. S. (March 1995).
"Photoelectric Observations of 125 Asteroids" . Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference . 26 : 1511.
Bibcode :
1995LPI....26.1511W . Retrieved 30 August 2016 .
^
a
b Warner, Brian D. (October 2015).
"Near-Earth Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2015 March–June" . The Minor Planet Bulletin . 42 (4): 256–266.
Bibcode :
2015MPBu...42..256W .
ISSN
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PMC
7244091 .
PMID
32455361 .
^
a
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"Photometry and models of eight near-Earth asteroids" . Icarus . 167 (1): 178–196.
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^
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"Thermophysical modeling of asteroids from WISE thermal infrared data – Significance of the shape model and the pole orientation uncertainties" . Icarus . 256 : 101–116.
arXiv :
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^ Thomas, C. A.; Trilling, D. E.; Emery, J. P.; Mueller, M.; Hora, J. L.; Benner, L. A. M.; et al. (September 2011).
"ExploreNEOs. V. Average Albedo by Taxonomic Complex in the Near-Earth Asteroid Population" . The Astronomical Journal . 142 (3): 12.
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^
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b Thomas, Cristina A.; Emery, Joshua P.; Trilling, David E.; Delbó, Marco; Hora, Joseph L.; Mueller, Michael (January 2014). "Physical characterization of Warm Spitzer-observed near-Earth objects". Icarus . 228 : 217–246.
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^ Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015).
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^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2009). "Appendix – Publication Dates of the MPCs". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – Addendum to Fifth Edition (2006–2008) . Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 221.
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External links