It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.8–5.5 AU once every 11 years and 9 months (4,307 days; semi-major axis of 5.18 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as 1972 GE at Crimea–Nauchnij in April 1972, almost 10 years prior to its official discovery observation at Oak Ridge.[1]
Naming
This minor planet was named after Pandarus from Greek mythology, He was the Lycian warrior whose treacherous wounding of the Greek Spartan leader Menelaus broke the truce in the Trojan War.[1] The verb "to pander" and "pandering" are derived from his name. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 June 1982 (M.P.C. 6957).[17]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Pandarus measures between 74.27 and 101.72 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.044 and 0.067.[7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an exceptionally low albedo of 0.0244 and a diameter of 97.69 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.70.[4]
100+ largest Jupiter trojans
Largest Jupiter Trojans by survey(A) (mean-diameter in kilometers; YoD: Year of Discovery)
Note: missing data was completed with figures from the JPL SBDB (query) and from the LCDB (query form) for the WISE/NEOWISE and SIMPS catalogs, respectively. These figures are given in italics. Also, listing is incomplete above #100.
^ abcdTedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System – IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
^ abcdUsui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
^ abStephens, Robert D.; Coley, Daniel R.; French, Linda M. (July 2016). "A Report from the L5 Trojan Camp - Lightcurves of Jovian Trojan Asteroids from the Center for Solar System Studies". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 43 (3): 265–270. Bibcode:2016MPBu...43..265S. ISSN1052-8091.