3131 Mason-Dixon
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_Mason-Dixon.png) Mason–Dixon modeled from its lightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 24 January 1982 |
| Designations | |
| (3131) Mason–Dixon | |
Named after | Charles Mason[1] Jeremiah Dixon (English astronomers) |
| 1982 BM1 · 1962 CK 1975 XS2 · 1977 DB3 1979 OS16 · 1979 QJ6 A922 DC | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (outer) Koronis[3][4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.82 yr (23,311 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.0505 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.7940 AU |
| 2.9222 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0439 |
| 5.00 yr (1,825 d) | |
| 118.17° | |
| 0° 11m 50.28s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.4041° |
| 44.734° | |
| 147.18° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 14 km (est. at 0.15)[6] | |
| 19.748±0.0537 h[7][8] | |
| 0.15 (family albedo)[9] | |
| S (family based)[9] | |
| 12.0[1][2] | |
3131 Mason–Dixon (prov. designation: 1982 BM1) is a Koronian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 24 January 1982, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Arizona, United States.[1] The likely S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 19.7 hours and measures approximately 14 kilometers (9 miles) in diameter.[7] It was named for English astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.[1]
Mason–Dixon is a core member of the Koronis family (605),[3][4][5] a very large asteroid family of almost 6,000 known asteroids with nearly co-planar ecliptical orbits.[9] It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–3.1 AU once every 5 years (1,825 days; semi-major axis of 2.92 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[2]
The body was first observed at Heidelberg Observatory in February 1922. Its observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in July 1954.[1] On 1 February 1907, Mason–Dixon made a close approach to one of the larger asteroids, 52 Europa. At its closest, it passed Europa within 1.1 million kilometers.[citation needed]
Naming
This minor planet was named by the discoverer in memory of English astronomers Charles Mason (1728–1786) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733–1779), who observed the 1761 transit of Venus from the Cape of Good Hope. Between 1763 and 1767 they surveyed the so-called Mason–Dixon line, the boundary between the US States of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 June 1986 (M.P.C. 10847).[10]
