It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.6–6.0 AU once every 12 years and 2 months (4,451 days; semi-major axis of 5.3 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic.[4] Up to the year 2200, its closest approach to any major planet will be on 3 February 2120, when it will still be 2.669 AU (399,300,000 km; 248,100,000 mi) from Jupiter.[18] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg with its official discovery observation in October 1930.[1]
In Summer 1986, the first photometric observations of Anchises were taken with the 0.9-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile. Lightcurve analysis gave a well defined rotation period of 11.60 hours with a notably wide brightness variation of 0.57 magnitude (U=3).[14]
Between January 2016, and December 2017, three more rotational lightcurves were obtained by American photometrist Robert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies in California. They gave a concurring period of 11.595,[a] 11.596[b] and 11.599 hours[c] with an amplitude between 0.34 and 0.73 magnitude (U=3/3-/3?).[12][13] A high brightness amplitude is indicative for a non-spherical, elongated shape (see below).
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and astronomers revisiting the data from these three space-based telescopes, Anchises measures between 99.55 and 136 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.0308 and 0.050.[8][9][10][11] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is an albedo of 0.0308 and a diameter of 126.27 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.89.[5]
This makes it the 7th largest Jupiter trojan only according to IRAS (126 km), and would be at least 6th should the size indeed prove to be 136 km or more, while it is much smaller and a few places further down the list according to the NEOWISE survey catalog (<100 km). One of the reasons for the large discrepancies in diameter estimates is possibly related to the results being derived from single-epoch observations of the asteroid, which is known for its large brightness variations (see above).[8]
100+ largest Jupiter trojans
Largest Jupiter Trojans by survey(A) (mean-diameter in kilometers; YoD: Year of Discovery)
Note: missing data was completed with figures from the JPL SBDB (query) and from the LCDB (query form) for the WISE/NEOWISE and SIMPS catalogs, respectively. These figures are given in italics. Also, listing is incomplete above #100.
Shape and surface
In 2012, an international collaboration revisited the WISE, IRAS and Akari observational data. As already suggested by the body's high brightness amplitude, the astronomers found that Anchises is significantly elongated, with best-fit dimensions of 170 km × 121 km × 121 km, which corresponds to a mean diameter of 136+18 −11 kilometers.[8] Due to a small phase coefficient and a lack of any noticeable opposition effect, astronomers at Cerro Tololo concluded that this Jupiter trojan asteroid possesses an unusually smooth surface texture – far less rough than the great majority of asteroids.[14] In case the surface of Anchises consist of bare rock, with high thermal inertia, the body's true diameter could be significantly greater than the estimated 136 kilometers, the study concludes.[8]
^ abcdUsui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
^ abcdTedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System – IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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