1994 Shane
1994 Shane, provisional designation 1961 TE, is a dark Adeonian asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 October 1961, by astronomers of the Indiana Asteroid Program conducted at the Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.[10] It was later named after American astronomer C. Donald Shane.[2] Orbit and classificationShane is a member of the Adeona family (505), a large family of carbonaceous asteroids.[4] The asteroid orbits the Sun in the intermediate main belt at a distance of 2.1–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,603 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] It was first identified as 1939 RN at Simeiz Observatory in 1939, extending Shane's observation arc by 22 years prior to its official discovery observation at Goethe.[10] LightcurveIn October 2009, a rotational lightcurve of Shane was obtained from photometric observations at the Via Capote Observatory (G69) in California. It gave a well-defined rotation period of 8.22 hours with a brightness variation of 0.26 magnitude (U=3),[8] superseding a previously obtained period of 8 hours from 1996 (U=n.a.).[7] Diameter and albedoAccording to observations made by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, Shane has an albedo of 0.06,[6] while the survey carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite rendered a higher albedo of 0.13 with a corresponding diameter of 18 kilometers.[5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an even lower albedo of 0.04, yet does not classify it as a carbonaceous but rather as a S-type asteroid, which typically have much higher albedos due to their stony surface composition.[3] NamingThis minor planet was named after American astronomer Charles Donald Shane (1895–1983), director of Lick Observatory, second president of AURA, and instrumental for the establishment of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Shane played a major role in the planning and construction of the first telescopes and buildings on Kitt Peak National Observatory as well.[2] The 3-meter C. Donald Shane telescope, located at Lick Observatory, was also named after him. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 March 1981 (M.P.C. 5848).[11] References
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