3872 Akirafujii

3872 Akirafujii
Discovery [1]
Discovered byB. A. Skiff
Discovery siteAnderson Mesa Stn.
Discovery date12 January 1983
Designations
(3872) Akirafujii
Named after
Akira Fujii (Japanese astrophotographer)[2]
1983 AV · 1931 AY
main-belt · (middle)
Eunomia [3]Mitidika [4]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc86.10 yr (31,447 days)
Aphelion3.2025 AU
Perihelion2.1199 AU
2.6612 AU
Eccentricity0.2034
4.34 yr (1,586 days)
324.03°
0° 13m 37.2s / day
Inclination13.042°
94.761°
66.126°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions12.538±0.340 km[5][6]
15.16±1.3 km (IRAS:13)[7]
15.20 km (derived)[3]
21.43±1.51 km[8]
10.635 h[9]
22.289±0.003 h[10]
0.029±0.005[8]
0.0583±0.011 (IRAS:13)[7]
0.0697 (derived)[3]
0.085±0.012[5][6]
C [11] · S (assumed)[3]
12.44±0.26[11] · 12.6[1][3] · 12.8[7][8][5]

3872 Akirafujii, provisional designation 1983 AV, is a carbonaceous Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter.

The asteroid was discovered on 12 January 1983, by American astronomer Brian Skiff at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station, near Flagstaff, Arizona.[12] It was later named after Japanese astronomer Akira Fujii.[2]

Orbit and classification

Akirafujii has been identified as a member of the Mitidika family, a dispersed asteroid family of typically carbonaceous C-type asteroids. The family is named after 2262 Mitidika (diameter of 9 km) and consists of 653 known members, the largest ones being 404 Arsinoë (95 km) and 5079 Brubeck (17 km).[4][13]: 23  It has also been described as a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of otherwise predominantly stony asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt.

It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.1–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,586 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was taken at Lowell Observatory in 1931, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 52 years prior to its discovery.[12]

Physical characteristics

Akirafujii has been characterized as a dark C-type asteroid by PanSTARRS' photometric survey,[11] which agrees with the Mitidika family's overall spectral type.[13]: 23 

Rotation period

In August 2005 and November 2012, two rotational lightcurves were obtained through photometric observations at the Chiro Observatory, Australia, and at the Preston Gott Observatory in Texas, United States, respectively. The ambiguous lightcurve from Chiro Observatory showed a rotation period of 10.635 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 in magnitude, when using the longer solution (U=2).[9] The other lightcurve at Preston Gott gave a period of 22.289±0.003 hours with an amplitude of 0.23 (U=2-).[10]

Diameter and albedo

According to the space-based 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, Akirafujii measures between 12.5 and 21.4 kilometers, and its surface has a low albedo in the range of 0.03 to 0.09.[7][8][5][6]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) derives an albedo of 0.07 and calculates a diameter of 15.2 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.6.[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honour of Japanese astronomer Akira Fujii (born 1941), a prominent astronomy communicator and astrophotographer at his Chiro Observatory in Shirakawa, Fukushima prefecture. Editor of the "Star Handbook" (Hoshi No Techou) and author of an astronomy book series for young people, Fujii has also publicized astronomy on TV, and he has toured the country during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, encouraging the public to observe it with a 0.6-meter reflector telescope mounted on his trailer. Internationally, Fujii is most famous for his excellent celestial images.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 29 November 1993 (M.P.C. 22829).[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3872 Akirafujii (1983 AV)" (2017-02-16 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(3872) Akirafujii". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 328–329. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3861. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (3872) Akirafujii". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Asteroid 3872 Akirafujii – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  5. ^ a b 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:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d Usui, 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)
  9. ^ a b Clark, Maurice (March 2007). "Lightcurve Results for 1318 Nerina, 222 Lermontov 3015 Candy, 3089 Oujianquan, 3155 Lee, 6410 Fujiwara, 6500 Kodaira, (8290) 1992 NP, 9566 Rykhlova, (42923) 1999 SR18, and 2001 FY". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 34 (1): 19–22. Bibcode:2007MPBu...34...19C. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. ^ a b Clark, Maurice (July 2013). "Asteroid Photometry from the Preston Gott Observatory". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 40 (3): 131–133. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40..131C. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  11. ^ a b c Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 – Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  12. ^ a b "3872 Akirafujii (1983 AV)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  13. ^ a b Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). "Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families". Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 978-0-8165-3213-1.
  14. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 4 May 2016.