2069 Hubble
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana Asteroid Program |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 29 March 1955 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2069 Hubble |
|
Named after
|
Edwin Hubble[2] |
| 1955 FT · 1953 VN1 1969 TB1 · 1970 WA1 1975 TT3 |
|
| main-belt | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 60.52 yr (22,106 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.7402 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5748 AU |
| 3.1575 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1845 |
| 5.61 yr (2,049.3 days) | |
| 301.67° | |
| Inclination | 9.1010° |
| 46.434° | |
| 70.040° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 34.5 km |
| 32.52 h | |
| 0.0538 | |
| 11.3 | |
2069 Hubble, provisional designation 1955 FT, is a dark-colored asteroid from the main belt, about 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory on March 29, 1955. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5.61 years (2,049 days). It has a relatively low geometric albedo of 0.05.[1]
Photometric measurements of the asteroid made in 2005 at the Palmer Divide Observatory showed an unusual tri-modal light curve with a period of 32.52 ± 0.02 hours and a brightness variation of 0.10 ± 0.02 in magnitude.[3]
The asteroid was named after the famous American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889–1953). He pioneered in the exploration of the Universe beyond the Milky Way galaxy and established a self-consistent distance scale as far as the 100-inch Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory could reach. Hubble's law and the discovery of the expanding Universe were his greatest achievements. His classification scheme for galaxies, the Hubble sequence, is still the standard and often called the Hubble tuning-fork. He also discovered the minor planet 1373 Cincinnati, his only asteroid discovery. The lunar crater, Hubble, is also named after him.[2]
References
External links
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- 2069 Hubble at the JPL Small-Body Database
