3353 Jarvis, or by its provisional designation, 1981 YC, is a carbonaceous Hungaria asteroid, slow rotator and suspected tumbler from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter.
In July 2007, a rotational lightcurve of Jarvis was obtained from photometric observations by astronomer Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Station, Colorado, in collaboration with Robert Stephens, Alan Harris and Petr Pravec. The re-examined lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 202 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.50 in magnitude, superseding the original period solution of 40.8 hours (U=2+/2).[12][a]
Due to an improved long-term calibration of the obtained photometric data points, a much longer period of 202 hours has been derived for Jarvis, which is now among the Top 300 slowest rotators known to exist, as most minor planets have spin rates between 2.2 and 24 hours only.[12]
The observations also suggest that Jarvis might be a tumbling asteroid in a non-principal axis rotation, which are typically slow rotators (T0).[4]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Jarvis measures between 9.72 and 12.49 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo between 0.030 and 0.074.[5][6][7][8][9][10] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0622 and a diameter of 9.70 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.7.[4]
While most members of the Hungaria family are E-type asteroids with extremely bright surfaces and albedos in the order of 0.30, Jarvis has an unusually low albedo,[clarification needed] typically seen for carbonaceous asteroids.
^ abcWarner (2007), lightcurve plot of (3353) Jarvis with a rotation period of 202±0.5 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.5 magnitude. Quality code of 2+.
^ 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)