39890 Bobstephens

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39890 Bobstephens (provisional designation Template:Mp) is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 23 March 1998, by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory near Prague in the Czech Republic.[1] It was named for American astronomer Robert Stephens.[2]

Orbit and classification

Bobstephens orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,523 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] It was first imaged at Steward Observatory in 1995. This precovery extends the body's observation arc by 3 years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In August 2008, a rotational lightcurve of Bobstephens was obtained from photometric observations by American amateur astronomer Daniel Coley at the Center for Solar System Studies in California. Light-curve analysis gave a rotation period of 9.55 hours with a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude (U=2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).[4]

Diameter and albedo

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 2.06 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 15.8.[5]

Naming

This minor planet was named for Californian amateur astronomer and photometrist Robert D. Stephens (born 1955), who is an expert in lightcurve photometry of minor planets since 1999.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 July 2002 (M.P.C. 46112Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).[6]

References

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External links

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