4897 Tomhamilton

4897 Tomhamilton, provisional designation 1987 QD₆, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 14 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 August 1987, by American female astronomer Eleanor Helin at Palomar Observatory, California.^[2]

The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.4 AU once every 5 years and 4 months (1,950 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] Research showed that this minor planet was previously recorded on photographs and was logged as 1971 QV₁. The first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory as early as 1950, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 37 years prior to its discovery.^[2]

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 13.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.215, which indicates that it of a stony rather than of a carbonaceous composition.^[1][3] As of 2016, however, the asteroid's shape and rotation period remain unknown.

It is named after Thomas William Hamilton, an American (born San Francisco, 1939) who was a child actor (he played "Barnaby" in Barnaby and Mr. O'Malley and was on the early television show Mr. I-Magination). As an adult he worked on the Apollo program, determining fuel requirements and radar accuracy requirements for lunar orbit rendezvous. He later worked as an astronomy educator and planetarium director, and is the author of time travel and science fiction novels, and also wrote five books on astronomical topics. Hamilton and Helin were acquainted, as he had interviewed her at an astronomical conference for a cable television show he was producing at the time. Naming citation was published on 4 October 2009 (M.P.C. 67215).^[4]

On 11 January 2011, it was at opposition (coinciding with Hamilton's 72nd birthday) at a distance of 2.476 AU. Given the moderately elliptical orbit, this asteroid can on rare occasions reach an apparent magnitude from Earth of about +10.9.

Books by Hamilton

• Books on astronomical topics:
  • Useful Star Names (ISBN 978-1-61204-614-3)
  • Our Neighbor Stars (ISBN 978-1-61897-132-6)
  • Moons of the Solar System (ISBN 978-1-62516-175-8)
  • Dwarf Planets and Asteroids (ISBN 978-1-62857-728-0)
  • Impact Craters of Earth (ISBN 978-1-63135-353-6)
• Other books:
• Time for Patriots, a time travel adventure novel (ISBN 978-1-60693-224-7)
• The Mountain of Long Eyes, a satire (ISBN 978-1-62212-028-4)

References

External links

• http://sbpra.com/ThomasWmHamilton Books by Thomas Wm. Hamilton
• Hamilton Planetarium Scholarship Fund Inc.
• 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
• 4897 Tomhamilton at the JPL Small-Body Database
  
  • Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters