Tomeileen is a member the Eos family (606),[3][4] the largest asteroid family of the outer main belt consisting of nearly 10,000 asteroids.[13] It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 3 months (1,903 days; semi-major axis of 3.01 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in January 1906.[1]
Physical characteristics
Tomeileen has been characterized as a stony S-type asteroid in the SDSS-MFB (Masi Foglia Binzel) taxonomy.[3][b]
Rotation period
Between 2004 and 2010, three rotational lightcurves of Tomeileen were obtained from photometric observations by Brazilian and Argentine astronomers,[5] Amadeo Aznar at Puzol Observatory (J42),[a] and Laurent Bernasconi in France.[11] Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.974, 4.0 and 6.822 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.1, 0.10 and 0.13 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2/2).[3] A low amplitude is indicative of a spherical rather than elongated shape.
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.1539 and a diameter of kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.2.[3]
Naming
This minor planet was named after Thomas Marsden (1905–1980) and Eileen (née West) Marsden (1905–1981), the parents of British astronomer and longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC), Brian G. Marsden (1937–2010).[1] The official naming citation was published by the MPC on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6833).[14]
Notes
^ abAznar (2011) web: observation from February 2010, rotation period 4.0±0.1 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.10±0.02 mag. Quality code of 2. Summary figures for (2443) Tomeileen at the LCDB
^ abSearch for Unusual Spectroscopic Candidates Among 40313 minor planets from the 3rd Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog (publication). SDSS-MFB (Masi Foglia Binzel) taxonomy (catalog).
^ abcdMasiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). "Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 759 (1): 5. arXiv:1209.5794. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759L...8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8.
^ abMasiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121.
^ 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)