1506 Xosa
Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | C. Jackson |
Discovery site | Johannesburg Obs. |
Discovery date | 15 May 1939 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | 1506 Xosa |
Named after
|
Xhosa people (Bantu ethnic group)[2] |
1939 JC | |
main-belt · (inner) [3] | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 76.42 yr (27,911 days) |
Aphelion | 3.2414 AU |
Perihelion | 1.9017 AU |
2.5716 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.2604 |
4.12 yr (1,506 days) | |
147.06° | |
Inclination | 12.546° |
234.58° | |
45.262° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 13.96±0.70 km[4] 11.83 km (calculated)[3] |
292 h[5] 5.90±0.01 h[6] 5.9±0.1 h[7] 298.0659±5.5273 h[8] |
|
0.157±0.037[4] 0.20 (assumed)[3] |
|
S [3] | |
12.0 | |
1506 Xosa, provisional designation 1939 JC, is an eccentric, stony asteroid, slow rotator, and suspected tumbler from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by English-born, South African astronomer Cyril Jackson at the Union Observatory in Johannesburg on 15 May 1939.[9]
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,506 days). Its orbit shows an relatively high eccentricity of 0.26 and is tilted by 13 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. According to the survey carried out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer/NEOWISE its albedo amounts to 0.16.[4]
Xosa has a notably long rotation period of 292 to 298 hours[5][8] and seems to be in a non-principal axis rotation (NPAR), colloquially called as "tumbling".[5] The results, however, are ambiguous, as alternative observations gave a much shorter period.[6][7] A third measurement was taken back by astronomer Stéphane Charbonnel after the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) had published their observation of the long-periodical asteroid.[10]
The minor planet was named after the Xhosa (formerly spelled "Xosa"), a Bantu ethnic group of native people in south-east South Africa, and who came into early contact with the white settlers.[2]
References
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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
- 1506 Xosa at the JPL Small-Body Database
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