3070 Aitken
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana Asteroid Program |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 4 April 1949 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 3070 Aitken |
|
Named after
|
Robert Grant Aitken (astronomer)[2] |
| 1949 GK · 1942 GQ A907 HA |
|
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 73.12 yr (26,707 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7621 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8500 AU |
| 2.3060 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1977 |
| 3.50 yr (1,279 days) | |
| 311.93° | |
| Inclination | 2.3451° |
| 170.43° | |
| 52.502° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.85 km (calculated)[3] |
| 6.3965±0.0026 h[4] | |
| 0.24 (assumed)[3] | |
| S [3] | |
| 13.7[1] | |
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3070 Aitken, provisional designation 1949 GK, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by the Indiana Asteroid Program at the U.S. Goethe Link Observatory in Brooklyn, Indiana, on 4 April 1949.[5]
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,279 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.20 and is tilted by 2 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic.[1] A light-curve from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey rendered a rotation period of 6.4 hours[4] and the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.20, a typical value for stony asteroids.[3]
The minor planet was named in memory of American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken (1864–1951). He was the fourth director of the Lick Observatory from 1930 to 1935. Before, he was the observatory's associate director (1923–1930) under its director W. W. Campbell, who was also president of the University of California and after whom the minor planet 2751 Campbell is named. Aitken became the leading authority on double stars during his 40 years at the observatory. He is well known for the publication of his New General Catalogue of Double Stars Within 120° of the North Pole,[6] published in two large volumes in 1932, and his book The Binary Stars that was first published in 1918 (also see § External links). He is also honoured by the lunar crater Aitken.[2]
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
- The Binary Stars, digital version published by Dover in 1964
- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
- 3070 Aitken at the JPL Small-Body Database
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