2927 Alamosa
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. G. Thomas |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 5 October 1981 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2927 Alamosa |
Named after |
Alamosa, Colorado (discoverer's birthplace)[2] |
|
1981 TM · 1936 OA 1975 EN2 | |
| main-belt · (inner) [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 79.75 yr (29,130 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9594 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1034 AU |
| 2.5314 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1691 |
| 4.03 yr (1,471 days) | |
| 277.8075° | |
| 0° 14m 40.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 17.0205° |
| 150.4855° | |
| 189.6275° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 11.83 km (calculated)[3] |
| 4.3832±0.0002 h[4] | |
| 0.20 (assumed)[3] | |
| S [3][5] | |
|
12.0[1][3] 12.01±0.35[5] | |
|
| |
2927 Alamosa, provisional designation 1981 TM, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1981, by American astronomer Norman Thomas at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona.[6]
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–3.0 AU once every 4.03 years (1,471 days). The body's orbit is tilted by 17° to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an eccentricity of 0.17. The first precovery was taken at Heidelberg Observatory in 1936, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 45 years prior to its discovery.[6]
A rotational light-curve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made at the Phillips Academy Observatory (PAO) in April and May 2012. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 4.3832±0.0002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.26 in magnitude (U=3).[4] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20, and calculates a diameter of 11.8 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.0.[3]
The minor planet was named after the U.S. town of Alamosa, Colorado, located in the San Luis Valley on the upper Rio Grande. The town is the birthplace of the discovering astronomer, Norman Thomas.[2] Naming citation was published on 20 December 1983 (M.P.C. 8405).[7] Almosa is Spanish for cottonwood tree.
References
- 1 2 3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2927 Alamosa (1981 TM)" (2016-04-17 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2927) Alamosa. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 241. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LCDB Data for (2927) Alamosa". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- 1 2 Odden, Caroline; French, John; Briggs, John (October 2012). "Lightcurve Analysis for Four Asteroids". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 39 (4): 236–238. Bibcode:2012MPBu...39..236O. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- 1 2 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. - 1 2 "2927 Alamosa (1981 TM)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- ↑ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
External links
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 2927 Alamosa at the JPL Small-Body Database
