3854 George

3854 George

Discovery [1]
Discovered by	C. Shoemaker E. Shoemaker
Discovery site	Palomar Obs.
Discovery date	13 March 1983
Designations
MPC designation	(3854) George
Named after	George Shoemaker [1][2] (discoverer's father-in-law)
Alternative designations	1983 EA
Minor planet category	Mars-crosser [3] · Hungaria [1][4] background [5]
Orbital characteristics [3]
Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	35.61 yr (13,007 d)
Aphelion	2.1463 AU
Perihelion	1.6384 AU
Semi-major axis	1.8923 AU
Eccentricity	0.1342
Orbital period (sidereal)	2.60 yr (951 d)
Mean anomaly	13.729°
Mean motion	0° 22^m 42.96^s / day
Inclination	24.207°
Longitude of ascending node	8.4004°
Argument of perihelion	87.500°
Earth MOID	0.7879 AU (306.9 LD)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	3.023±0.554 km[6][7] 3.26±0.65 km[8] 3.62±0.36 km[9]
Synodic rotation period	3.3398±0.0002 h[10]
Geometric albedo	0.22[8] 0.308[9] 0.458[6][7]
Spectral type	S (assumed)[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.00[6][7] 14.10[3][4][9] 14.2[1] 14.72[8]

3854 George, provisional designation: 1983 EA, is a stony Hungaria asteroid and Mars-crosser from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 13 March 1983, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California.[1] The unlikely synchronous binary system has a rotation period of 3.3 hours.[4] It was named after the discoverer's father-in-law, George Shoemaker.[1]

Orbit and classification

George is a member of the Mars-crossing asteroids, a dynamically unstable group located between the main belt and the near-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.66 AU.[3] It is also a dynamical member of the Hungaria group.[1][4]

It orbits the Sun in the innermost asteroid belt at a distance of 1.6–2.1 AU once every 2 years and 7 months (951 days; semi-major axis of 1.89 AU). Its orbit has a relatively low eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 24° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar in March 1983.[1]

George family?

Although George is a member of the dynamical Hungaria group, it is not a member of the collisional Hungaria family but an unrelated, non-family asteroid from the background population, according to Nesvorý, Milani and Knežević.[5][11][12] However, in a 2014-abstract from the Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference in Helsinki (ACM 2014), George was mentioned as the principal body of a newly discovered low-density family in the Hungaria region.[13]

Naming

This minor planet was named after George Estel Shoemaker (1904–1960), father of Carolyn Shoemaker's husband Eugene Shoemaker (1928–1997),[2] who has previously been credited as the second discoverer.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 12 December 1989 (M.P.C. 15574).[14]

Physical characteristics

George is an assumed stony S-type asteroid.[4]

Lightcurve and satellite

In November 2005, a rotational lightcurve of George was obtained from photometric observations by Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado, United States. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.3398±0.0002 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.14 magnitude (U=3). The observations showed possible hints of George being a binary asteroid with a minor-planet moon in its orbit. However, no conclusive evidence was produced due to insufficient data for a valid lightcurve analysis.[10]

Follow-up observations by Warner in February 2009 gave a concurring period of 3.338±0.001 hours and an amplitude of 0.12 magnitude (U=2) with no indications of mutual occultation/eclipsing events.[15][a]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), George measures between 3.02 and 3.26 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.22 and 0.46.[6][7][8] In 2017, a WISE-study dedicated to Mars-crossing asteroids gave a somewhat larger diameter of 3.62 kilometers with an albedo of 0.308.[9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.30 and calculates a diameter of 3.67 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.1.[4]

Notes

1. Lightcurve plot of 3854 George, Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2009). Rotation period 3.338±0.001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.12±0.01 mag. Quality code is 3. Observers note: "The 2005 apparition had two suspicious nights (deviations that might be due to a satellite). There were no indications of such during this apparition." Summary figures for (3854) George at the LCDB.

References

1. "3854 George (1983 EA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
2. "George Estel Shoemaker (1904–1960)". Find a grave. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
3. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3854 George (1983 EA)" (2018-10-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
4. "LCDB Data for (3854) George". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
5. "Asteroid (3854) George – Proper elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
6. Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; Kramer, E. A.; Masiero, J. R.; et al. (June 2016). "NEOWISE Diameters and Albedos V1.0". NASA Planetary Data System: EAR-A-COMPIL-5-NEOWISEDIAM-V1.0. Bibcode:2016PDSS..247.....M. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
7. Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117. S2CID 9341381.
8. Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Kramer, E. A.; Grav, T.; et al. (September 2016). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year Two: Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (3): 12. arXiv:1606.08923. Bibcode:2016AJ....152...63N. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/63.
9. Alí-Lagoa, V.; Delbo', M. (July 2017). "Sizes and albedos of Mars-crossing asteroids from WISE/NEOWISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 603: 8. arXiv:1705.10263. Bibcode:2017A&A...603A..55A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629917. S2CID 119224590.
10. Warner, Brian D.; Pravec, Petr; Kusnirák, Peter; Foote, Cindy; Foote, Jerry; Galád, Adrián; et al. (June 2006). "Lightcurves analysis for Hungaria asteroids 3854 George, 4440 Tchantches and 4674 Pauling". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 33 (2): 34–35. Bibcode:2006MPBu...33...34W. ISSN 1052-8091.
11. "Asteroid 3854 George". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
12. "Small Bodies Data Ferret". Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
13. Vinogradova, T.; Shor, V. (July 2014). "Asteroid families in the Cybele and Hungaria groups" (PDF). Asteroids: 567. Bibcode:2014acm..conf..567V. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
14. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
15. Warner, Brian D. (July 2009). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: 2008 December - 2009 March". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 36 (3): 109–116. Bibcode:2009MPBu...36..109W. ISSN 1052-8091.

External links

• Asteroid 3854 George, Small Bodies Data Ferret
• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 3854 George at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 3854 George at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters