3851 Alhambra
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| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Seki |
| Discovery site | Geisei Obs. |
| Discovery date | 30 October 1986 |
| Designations | |
| (3851) Alhambra | |
Named after | Alhambra (World Heritage Site)[2] |
| 1986 UZ · 1950 MC 1960 RA · 1965 CD 1973 SE4 · 1973 ST2 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.95 yr (24,452 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.3148 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0338 AU |
| 2.1743 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0646 |
| 3.21 yr (1,171 days) | |
| 188.88° | |
| 0° 18m 26.64s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.6276° |
| 344.66° | |
| 97.438° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.504±0.390[4] 6.51 km (calculated)[3] 6.813±0.036 km[5] |
| 53 h[6] | |
| 0.218±0.052[4] 0.24 (assumed)[3] 0.2419±0.0418[5] | |
| S[3] | |
| 13.0[5] · 13.1[1][3] · 13.78±0.00[7] | |
3851 Alhambra, provisional designation 1986 UZ, is a stony Flora asteroid and relatively slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 October 1986, by Japanese astronomer Tsutomu Seki at Geisei Observatory in Kōchi, Japan.[8] The asteroid was named for the World Heritage Site Alhambra, in Granada, Spain.[2]
The S-type asteroid 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 2.0–2.3 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,171 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The first precovery was taken at La Plata Astronomical Observatory in 1950, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 36 years prior to its discovery.[8]
Physical characteristics
A rotational lightcurve of Alhambra was obtained from photometric observations made at the Australian Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) in March 2007. It rendered a long rotation period of 53 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.35 in magnitude (U=2).[6] While not being a slow rotator, Alhambra's period is much longer than that of most asteroids.
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Alhambra measures 6.5 and 6.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.218 and 0.242, respectively,[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 6.5 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.1.[3]
