2012 Guo Shou-Jing, provisional designation 1964 TE2, is a carbonaceous asteroid and Florian interloper from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 October 1964, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking, China.[12] The asteroid was named after Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing.[2]
Orbit and classification
Guo Shou-Jing orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,298 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The body's observation arc begins 11 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in August 1953.[12]
Florian interloper
Guo Shou-Jing is a dark, carbonaceous asteroid but possesses the orbital characteristics of a member of the Flora family, which is one of the largest groups of bright, stony S-type asteroids in the main-belt. It is therefore thought to be an unrelated interloper that does not origin from the Flora family's parent body.
In August 2010, a fragmentary rotational lightcurve of Guo Shou-Jing was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy . Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 12 hours with a brightness variation of 0.05 magnitude (U=1+).[10]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Guo Shou-Jing measures between 11.65 and 14.70 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo between 0.030 and 0.070.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Based on purely orbital criteria, the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (erroneously) assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of the Flora family – and subsequently calculates a smaller diameter of 5.67 kilometers.[3]
