2391 Tomita

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2391 Tomita, provisional designation Template:Mp, is a Nysian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 9 January 1957, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory in southern Germany.[1] It was named after Japanese astronomer Kōichirō Tomita.[2]

Orbit and classification

Tomita is a member of the Nysa family, which is named after its most massive member 44 Nysa. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,393 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.[3]

A first precovery was taken at Lowell Observatory in 1929, extending the body's observation arc by 28 years prior to its official discovery observation at Heidelberg.[1]

Physical characteristics

Tomita has been characterized as a stony S-type asteroid by the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL), and as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRSTemplate:' photometric survey.[4][5]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 15.07 and 19.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo between 0.03 and 0.07, respectively.[6][7][8][9][10]

As CALL considers the body to be of a stony composition, it assumes a much higher albedo of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 9.2 kilometers, as the higher the asteroid's reflectivity (albedo), the shorter its diameter at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).[4]

Rotation period

In December 2013, two rotational lightcurves were obtained for this asteroid from photometric observations. They gave a rotation period of Script error: No such module "val". and Script error: No such module "val". hours with a brightness variation of 0.14 and 0.15 in magnitude, respectively. (U=3/n.a.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).Template:EfnTemplate:Efn

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Japanese astronomer Kōichirō Tomita (1925–2006), long-time observer at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, and a discoverer of minor planets and comets himself. Tomita was also known as one of Japan's principal popularizer of astronomy.[2] The official Template:MoMP was published by the Minor Planet Center on 14 April 1987 (M.P.C. 11748Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).[11]

Notes

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References

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External links

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