18880 Toddblumberg
Asteroid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
18880 Toddblumberg (provisional designation 1999 XM166) is a background asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 December 1999, by LINEAR at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site, near Socorro, New Mexico, United States.[4] The asteroid was named after Todd Blumberg, a 2003 ISEF contest awardee.[2]
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Lab's ETS |
| Discovery date | 10 December 1999 |
| Designations | |
| (18880) Toddblumberg | |
Named after | Todd James Blumberg (2003 ISEF awardee)[2] |
| 1999 XM166 · 1976 UC20 | |
| main-belt (outer)[1] background | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.35 yr (23,140 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.7961 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6135 AU |
| 3.2048 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1845 |
| 5.74 yr (2,096 days) | |
| 45.170° | |
| 0° 10m 18.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 9.6539° |
| 19.849° | |
| 29.542° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.283±0.438 km[3] |
| 0.265±0.082[3] | |
| 14.1[1] | |
Orbit and classification
Toddblumberg orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6â3.8 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,096 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory (DSS) in 1953, extending the body's observation arc by 46 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.[4]
Although discovered by LINEAR, Toddblumberg is not a near-Earth asteroid. Its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is about double the maximum distance of 1.3 AU that qualifies an asteroid as "near-Earth".[5]
Physical characteristics
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Toddblumberg measures 4.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.265.[3]
Lightcurve
As of 2017, Toddblumberg's spectral type and rotation period remain unknown.[1][6]
Naming
This minor planet was named for Todd James Blumberg (born 1984), a student at the Plano Senior High School in Plano, Texas, who won the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) award for his microbiology project in 2003.[2][7]
Since 2001, hundreds of secondary school students who have won awards at science fairs have had asteroids named after them.[8][9] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 30 August 2004 (M.P.C. 52648).[10]
