120375 Kugel
Main-belt asteroid
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120375 Kugel (provisional designation 2005 PB6) is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 10 August 2005, by French amateur astronomer Claudine Rinner at her Ottmarsheim Observatory (224) in France.[1] The stony S/Q-type asteroid in the region of the Florian clan has a tentative rotation period of 6.9 hours.[5] It was named after French astronomer François Kugel.[1]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Rinner |
| Discovery site | Ottmarsheim Obs. |
| Discovery date | 10 August 2005 |
| Designations | |
| (120375) Kugel | |
Named after | François Kugel[1] (French astronomer) |
| 2005 PB6 · 1998 SM108 2001 KE74 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) background[3][4] · near-Flora[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 1 July 2021 (JD 2459396.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 22.53 yr (8,228 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.8289 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8077 AU |
| 2.3183 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2202 |
| 3.53 yr (1,289 d) | |
| 189.77° | |
| 0° 16m 45.12s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.7591° |
| 229.91° | |
| 97.616° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 1.05 km (calculated)[5] | |
| 6.923±0.0085 h[6] | |
| 0.24 (assumed)[5] | |
| S/Q (SDSS-MOC)[7] | |
| 16.619±0.003 (R)[6] 16.7[2] · 17.07[5] | |
Orbit and classification
Kugel 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] Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been considered a member of the Flora family (402), a giant asteroid clan and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main belt.[5]
It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,289 days; semi-major axis of 2.32 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as 1998 SM108 at Lincoln Laboratory ETS in September 1998, nearly 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Ottmarsheim.[1]
Naming
This minor planet was named after French amateur astronomer François Kugel (born 1959), an active observer of comets and a collaborator of the discoverer. He has founded the Chante-Perdrix Observatory (A77) in 2005.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 August 2009 (M.P.C. 66728).[8]
Physical characteristics
In the SDSS-based taxonomy, Kugel has an SQ-type that transitions between the common S-type and less common Q-type asteroids.[7]
Rotation period
In August 2012, a rotational lightcurve of Kugel was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a tentative rotation period of 6.923±0.0085 hours with a weak brightness amplitude of 0.09 magnitude (U=1).[6] As of 2021, no secure period has been obtained.[5]
Diameter and albedo
Kugel has not been observed by any of the space-based surveys such as the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the Akari satellite or IRAS. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora the parent body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 1.05 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 17.07.[5]
