84882 Table Mountain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. W. Young |
| Discovery site | Table Mountain Obs. |
| Discovery date | 1 February 2003 |
| Designations | |
| (84882) Table Mountain | |
Named after | Table Mountain Observatory[2] (discovering observatory) |
| 2003 CN16 · 1997 UB9 | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (middle) background[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 20.71 yr (7,565 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.4081 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8620 AU |
| 2.6351 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2934 |
| 4.28 yr (1,562 d) | |
| 10.961° | |
| 0° 13m 49.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 13.857° |
| 20.490° | |
| 349.84° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 3.023±3.023 km[4][6] 3.027±0.563 km[4][7] | |
| 0.279±0.146[7] 0.306±0.075[6] | |
| S/Q (SDSS-MOC)[8] | |
| 14.6[1][3] | |
84882 Table Mountain (provisional designation 2003 CN16) is a bright background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 1 February 2003, by American astronomer James Whitney Young at the Table Mountain Observatory near Wrightwood, California.[1] The S/Q-type asteroid was later named after the discovering observatory.[2]
Table Mountain is a non-family from the main belt's background population.[4][5] It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 1.9–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,562 days; semi-major axis of 2.64 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.29 and an inclination of 14° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] It was first observed as 1997 UB9 at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site in October 1997, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 6 years prior to its official discovery observation at Table Mountain.[1]
Naming
This minor planet was named for the Table Mountain Observatory, the discoverer's workplace, currently a NASA facility operated by the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which began operation as a Smithsonian Institution site in 1924 to study the solar constant. In the late 1950s, the site was used to test the first solar panels and is now dedicated to optical astronomy and to study Earth's atmosphere.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 28 October 2004 (M.P.C. 52955).[9]
