3070 Aitken
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| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program) |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 4 April 1949 |
| Designations | |
| (3070) Aitken | |
Named after | Robert G. Aitken (American astronomer)[2] |
| 1949 GK · 1942 GQ A907 HA | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 74.56 yr (27,232 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7616 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8504 AU |
| 2.3060 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1976 |
| 3.50 yr (1,279 days) | |
| 177.01° | |
| 0° 16m 53.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.3456° |
| 170.44° | |
| 52.609° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.85 km (calculated)[3] |
| 6.3965±0.0026 h[4] | |
| 0.24 (assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 13.7[1] · 14.27±0.28[5] · 13.789±0.005 (R)[4] · 14.24[3] | |
3070 Aitken, provisional designation 1949 GK, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 April 1949, by astronomers of the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory in Indiana, United States. The asteroid was named after American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken.[2][6]
Aitken is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,279 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
In 1907, the asteroid was first identified as A907 HA at Taunton Observatory (803) in Massachusetts. A precovery, taken at Turku Observatory in 1942, extends the Aitken's observation arc by 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Goethe Link.[6]
Physical characteristics
Aitken has been characterized as a stony S-type asteroid.[3]
In November 2010, rotational lightcurve of Aitken was obtained from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 6.3965 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.38 magnitude (U=2).[4]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 3.9 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.24.[3]
