8441 Lapponica, provisional designation 4008 T-3, is a background asteroid from the Florian region of the inner asteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1977, by Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California.[1] The L-type asteroid has a rotation period of 3.27 hours.[5] It was named for the Bar-tailed godwit, a shorebird also known by its Latin name Limosa lapponica.[2]

8441 Lapponica
orbit
Discovery [1]
Discovered byC. J. van Houten
I. van Houten-G.
T. Gehrels
Discovery sitePalomar Obs.
Discovery date16 October 1977
Designations
(8441) Lapponica
Pronunciation/ləˈpɒnɪkə/
Named after
Bar-tailed godwit[2]
(A shorebird)
4008 T-3 · 1953 EC1
1989 LP
main-belt[1][3] · (inner)
background[4] · Flora[5]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc65.13 yr (23,788 d)
Aphelion2.4945 AU
Perihelion1.8857 AU
2.1901 AU
Eccentricity0.1390
3.24 yr (1,184 d)
9.5854°
0° 18m 14.76s / day
Inclination4.9910°
97.923°
86.900°
Physical characteristics
4.50 km (calculated)[5]
3.27±0.01 h[6]
3.275±0.001 h[7]
0.24 (assumed)[5]
L (Pan-STARRS)[8]
L(SDSS-MOC)[9]
S (assumed)[5]
13.9[1][3][5]
13.99±0.23[8]

Orbit and classification

edit

Lapponica is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.[4] Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the Flora family (402), a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[5]

The asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,184 days; semi-major axis of 2.19 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as 1953 EC1 at Goethe Link Observatory in March 1953, more than 24 years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]

Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey

edit

The survey designation "T-3" stands for the third Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey, named after the fruitful collaboration of the Palomar and Leiden Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand asteroid discoveries.[10]

Physical characteristics

edit

Lapponica has been characterized as an L-type asteroid in the SDSS-based taxonomy and by Pan-STARRS' survey.[8][9] It is also an assumed S-type asteroid.[5]

Rotation period

edit

In 2008, two rotational lightcurves of Lapponica were obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer Pierre Antonini and by Maurice Clark at the Montgomery College Observatory in Maryland. Analysis of the best-rated lightcurve gave a rotation period of 3.27 hours with a consolidated brightness amplitude between 0.29 and 0.50 magnitude (U=3-/2+).[5][6][7]

Diameter and albedo

edit

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the parent body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 4.50 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.9.[5]

Naming

edit

This minor planet was named for the bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) a migratory bird of the family Scolopacidae.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 February 1999 (M.P.C. 33791) and revised on 2 April 1999 (M.P.C. 34089).[11]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e "8441 Lapponica (4008 T-3)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(8441) Lapponica". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (8441) Lapponica. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 650. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_7029. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 8441 Lapponica (4008 T-3)" (2018-04-26 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Asteroid 8441 Lapponica". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "LCDB Data for (8441) Lapponica". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (8441) Lapponica". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  7. ^ a b Clark, Maurice (October 2008). "Asteroid Lightcurve Observations". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 35 (4): 152–154. Bibcode:2008MPBu...35..152C. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007.
  9. ^ a b Carvano, J. M.; Hasselmann, P. H.; Lazzaro, D.; Mothé-Diniz, T. (February 2010). "SDSS-based taxonomic classification and orbital distribution of main belt asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 510: 12. Bibcode:2010A&A...510A..43C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913322. Retrieved 30 October 2019. (PDS data set)
  10. ^ "Minor Planet Discoverers". Minor Planet Center. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  11. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
edit