2937 Gibbs
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| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 14 June 1980 |
| Designations | |
| (2937) Gibbs | |
Named after | Josiah Willard Gibbs[2] (American scientist) |
| 1980 LA | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3] · Phocaea[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 36.75 yr (13,424 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0232 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6160 AU |
| 2.3196 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3033 |
| 3.53 yr (1,290 days) | |
| 161.70° | |
| 0° 16m 44.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 21.758° |
| 265.72° | |
| 71.849° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.04±1.43 km[6] 5.99±1.20 km[7] 6.35 km (calculated)[4] |
| 3.06±0.05 h[8] 3.06153±0.00006 h[8] 3.189±0.003 h[9][a] | |
| 0.23 (assumed)[4] 0.283±0.113[7] 0.30±0.13[6] | |
| S[4] | |
| 13.10[7] · 13.2[1][4] · 13.42[6] | |
2937 Gibbs, provisional designation 1980 LA, is a stony Phocaea asteroid and Mars-crosser from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 14 June 1980, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona.[3] The asteroid was named after American scientist Josiah Willard Gibbs.[2]
Gibbs is a Mars-crossing asteroid, as it crosses the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU.[1][3] It is also an eccentric member of the Phocaea family,[4][5] a large asteroid family of stony asteroids in the inner main-belt.[10]: 23 Gibbs orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,290 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.30 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
The asteroid's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa. No prior identifications were made and no precoveries taken.[3]
Physical characteristics
Gibbs is an assumed stony S-type asteroid, which agrees with the overall spectral type of the Phocaea family.[10]: 23
Rotation period
In 2005, two rotational lightcurves of Gibbs were obtained from photometric observations by Italian amateur astronomers Federico Manzini and Roberto Crippa. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.06 and 3.06153 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 and 0.39 magnitude, respectively (U=2/3-).[8] In December 2016, Robert Stephens obtained a well-defined lightcurve at his Trojan Station (U81) that gave a period of 3.189 hours and an amplitude of 0.26 magnitude (U=3).[9][a]
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Gibbs measures between 5.04 and 5.99 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.283 and 0.30,[6][7] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23 – derived from 25 Phocaea, the Phocaea family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 6.35 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.2.[4]
Naming
This minor planet was named in memory of American mathematician and physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903), who contributed to the studies of asteroids through his work on orbits.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 17 February 1984 (M.P.C. 8544).[11] The lunar crater Gibbs was also named in his honor.[2]
