Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
Discovery date | 9 March 1956 |
Designations | |
(1990) Pilcher | |
Named after |
Frederick Pilcher
[1] (American photometrist) |
1956 EE · 1937 JL 1940 FA · 1959 CE1 1964 VS2 · 1972 EC 1972 GO · 1973 QM | |
main-belt
[1]
[2] · (
inner) background [3] [4] · Flora [5] [6] | |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 23 March 2018 ( JD 2458200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 80.17 yr (29,283 d) |
Aphelion | 2.2851 AU |
Perihelion | 2.0625 AU |
2.1738 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.0512 |
3.21 yr (1,171 d) | |
92.884 ° | |
0° 18m 27s / day | |
Inclination | 3.1320° |
193.63° | |
11.957° | |
Physical characteristics | |
6.39
km (calculated)
[5] 6.754±0.167 km [7] 7.273±0.064 km [8] | |
2.842±0.001 h [9] | |
0.1864±0.0254
[8] 0.215±0.039 [7] 0.24 (assumed) [5] | |
Tholen =
S
[2] S (assumed) [5] B–V = 0.850 [2] U–B = 0.504 [2] | |
13.14 [2] [5] [8] | |
1990 Pilcher, provisional designation 1956 EE, is a stony background asteroid from the Florian region of the inner asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 March 1956, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany. In 1982, it was named by the MPC for American physicist and photometrist Frederick Pilcher. [1] The S-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 2.8 hours. [5]
Pilcher is a non- family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method (HCM) to its proper orbital elements (Nesvorný, Milani and Knežević). [3] [4] In a previous HCM-analysis (Zappalà) and based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Flora family ( 402), a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt. [5] [6]
It orbits the Sun in the Florian region of the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.3 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,171 days; semi-major axis of 2.17 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 3 ° with respect to the ecliptic. [2]
The asteroid was first observed as 1937 JL at Nice Observatory in May 1937. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in June 1950, or six years prior to its official discovery observation at Heidelberg. [1]
In the Tholen classification, Pilcher is a common, stony S-type asteroid. [2]
In March 2017, a first rotational lightcurve of Pilcher was obtained from photometric observations at the Flarestar Observatory on the island of Malta. Lightcurve analysis gave a short rotation period of 2.842 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.10 magnitude, indicative for a rather spherical shape ( U=2+). [9]
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Pilcher measures between 6.754 and 7.273 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.1864 and 0.215. [7] [8]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the Flora family's parent body and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 6.39 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.14. [5]
This minor planet was named after American astronomer Frederick Pilcher, a retired professor of Physics at Illinois College and prolific lightcurve photometrist at his Organ Mesa Observatory ( G50) in New Mexico. [1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 8 April 1982 ( M.P.C. 6833). [10]