2554 Skiff
Florian asteroid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2554 Skiff, provisional designation 1980 OB, is a Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 17 July 1980, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona.[1] The presumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 25.6 hours and was named after astronomer Brian Skiff.[1]
(American astronomer)
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 17 July 1980 |
| Designations | |
Named after | Brian Skiff[1] (American astronomer) |
| 1980 OB · 1931 AB 1970 RE · 1976 GK8 1976 HV | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) Flora[3][4] · Levin[5][6] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 64.13 yr (23,423 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5915 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9355 AU |
| 2.2635 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1449 |
| 3.41 yr (1,244 d) | |
| 57.298° | |
| 0° 17m 21.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.8597° |
| 296.38° | |
| 333.74° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.005±0.052 km[7] 6.23±1.03 km[8] 6.283±0.049 km[9] 7.82 km (calculated)[4] 8.56±0.57 km[10] | |
| 25.6±0.5 h[11] | |
| 0.153±0.022[10] 0.24 (assumed)[4] 0.334±0.139[8] 0.4489±0.0796[9] | |
| S (assumed)[4] | |
| 12.5[9] 12.51±0.31[12] 12.70[2][4][8] 13.00[10] | |
Orbit and classification
Skiff is a member of the Flora family (402),[3][4] a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[13]: 23 Based on an alternative HCM-classification, the Asteroid Dynamic Site groups this asteroid to the core members of the Levin family, a proposed Florian subfamily of 1145 bodies which is named after its parent body 2076 Levin.[5][6]: 22
It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,244 days; semi-major axis of 2.26 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The asteroid was first observed as 1931 AB at Heidelberg Observatory in January 1931. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in June 1953, more than 27 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[1]
Physical characteristics
Skiff is an assumed stony S-type asteroid,[4] which is also the overall spectral type of the Flora family.[13]
Rotation period
In August 2014, a rotational lightcurve of Skiff was obtained from photometric observations by Italian astronomers at the Franco Fuligni Observatory near Rome. It gave a provisional rotation period of 25.6 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.32 in magnitude (U=1).[11]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Skiff measures between 6.005 and 8.56 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.153 and 0.4489.[7][8][9][10]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the Flora family's parent body – and calculates a diameter of 7.82 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.7.[4]
Naming
Skiff was named in honor of American astronomer Brian A. Skiff, a discoverer of 60 minor planets. He significantly contributed to Lowell's asteroid astrometry program, including the rediscovery of the 800-meter potentially hazardous object 69230 Hermes, a long-lost asteroid.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6834).[14]
