931 Whittemora

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931 Whittemora (prov. designation: Template:Mp or Template:Mp) is a metallic background asteroid, approximately Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by French astronomer François Gonnessiat at the Algiers Observatory in North Africa on 19 March 1920.[1] The M-type asteroid has a rotation period of 19.2 hours. It was named after American archaeologist Thomas Whittemore (1871–1950).[2]

Orbit and classification

Whittemora is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.[3][4] It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.4–3.9 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,061 days; semi-major axis of 3.17 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.[5]

Discovery

Whittemora was discovered by French astronomer François Gonnessiat at the Algiers Observatory in North Africa on 19 March 1920.[1] Two nights later, it was independently discovered by Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 21 March 1920.[2] However, the Minor Planet Center only credits Gonnessiat with the discovery.[1] The asteroid was first observed as Template:Mp (Template:Mp) at Heidelberg on 22 April 1904, where the body's observation arc begins on 21 March 1920.[1]

Naming

This minor planet was named after American scholar and archaeologist Thomas Whittemore (1871–1950), who was professor at both Harvard and Columbia universities. The Template:MoMP was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 90Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).[2]

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen classification, Whittemora is a metallic M-type asteroid.[5] It is an M0 in the taxonomic classification according to the method used by Barucci (1987).[4]

Rotation period

In March 2016, a rotational lightcurve of Whittemora was obtained from photometric observations by French and Swiss astronomers Christophe Demeautis, Mickael Porte and Raoul Behrend. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of Script error: No such module "val". hours with a brightness variation of Script error: No such module "val". magnitude (U=2+Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).[6][7] This result supersedes a period determination of 16+ hours by Pierre Antonini from June 2006 (U=2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".), and of Script error: No such module "val". hours with an amplitude of Script error: No such module "val". magnitude by John Menke at the Menke Observatory in January 2004 (U=2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".).[8]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the Japanese Akari satellite, Whittemora measures (Script error: No such module "val".), (Script error: No such module "val".) and (Script error: No such module "val".) kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of (Script error: No such module "val".), (Script error: No such module "val".) and (Script error: No such module "val".), respectively.[9][10][11]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results from IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.1704 and a diameter of 45.27 km based on an absolute magnitude of 9.26.[7] Further published mean-diameters and albedos by the WISE team include (Script error: No such module "val".) and (Script error: No such module "val".) with corresponding albedos of (Script error: No such module "val".), and (Script error: No such module "val".).[4][7] Two asteroid occultations on 1 January 2004 and 12 February 2015, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 45.0 × 45.0 and 49.0 × 49.0 kilometers, respectively.[4] These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star. However the quality of the measurements are poorly rated.[4]

References

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  1. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
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External links

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