Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | LINEAR |
Discovery site | Lincoln Lab's ETS |
Discovery date | 24 October 2000 |
Designations | |
(38984) 2000 UZ4 | |
2000 UZ4 | |
main-belt
[1] · (
outer)
[2]
[3] Zhongguo [4] · 2:1 res [5] | |
Orbital characteristics [2] | |
Epoch 23 March 2018 ( JD 2458200.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 20.39 yr (7,447 d) |
Aphelion | 4.1195 AU |
Perihelion | 2.5141 AU |
3.3168 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.2420 |
6.04 yr (2,206 d) | |
312.38 ° | |
0° 9m 47.52s / day | |
Inclination | 0.4882° |
59.710° | |
357.34° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 4.87 km (calculated) [3] |
19.20±0.390 h [6] | |
0.057 (assumed) [3] | |
C [3] [7] | |
14.6
[2] 14.840±0.190 (R) [6] 15.19±0.14 [7] 15.29 [3] | |
(38984) 2000 UZ4 ( provisional designation 2000 UZ4) is carbonaceous Zhongguo asteroid from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 October 2000, by astronomers with Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States. [1] The likely elongated C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 19.20 hours. [3]
2000 UZ4 is a non- family asteroid from the main belt's background population, and a member of the small group of Zhongguo asteroids, [4] located in the Hecuba gap and locked in a 2:1 mean-motion resonance with the gas giant Jupiter. Contrary to the nearby unstable Griqua group, the orbits of the Zhongguos are stable over half a billion years. [4] [5]
It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–4.1 AU once every 6.04 years (2,206 days; semi-major axis of 3.32 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 0 ° with respect to the ecliptic. [2] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken by Spacewatch in February 1996, more than 4 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro. [1]
2000 UZ4 has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS' large-scale survey. [3]
In January 2014, a rotational lightcurve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 19.20 hours with a high brightness amplitude of 0.70 magnitude, indicative of an elongated shape ( U=2). [6]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 4.87 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 15.29. [3]
This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center on 28 March 2002, after its orbit had sufficiently been secured ( M.P.C. 45198). [8] As of 2018, it has not been named. [1]