Discovery [1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | P. G. Comba |
Discovery site | Prescott Obs. |
Discovery date | 2 December 1999 |
Designations | |
(49777) Cappi | |
Named after | Margaret Comba (discoverer's wife) [2] |
1999 XS · 2001 KD31 | |
main-belt · (
inner)
[3] background [4] | |
Orbital characteristics [1] | |
Epoch 4 September 2017 ( JD 2458000.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 24.96 yr (9,115 days) |
Aphelion | 2.5138 AU |
Perihelion | 2.1982 AU |
2.3560 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.0670 |
3.62 yr (1,321 days) | |
183.85 ° | |
0° 16m 21s / day | |
Inclination | 4.4688° |
237.61° | |
341.93° | |
Physical characteristics | |
1.85 km (calculated) [3] | |
5.9389±0.0018 h [5] | |
0.20 (assumed) [3] | |
S (assumed) [3] | |
15.6 [1] · 15.92±0.23 [6] · 15.575±0.010 (R) [5] · 16.02 [3] | |
49777 Cappi ( provisional designation 1999 XS) is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 2 December 1999, by Italian–American astronomer Paul Comba at the Prescott Observatory in Arizona, United States. [7] It was named after the discoverer's wife, Margaret Capitola Sonntag Comba. [2]
Cappi is a non- family from the main belt's background population. [4] It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,321 days; semi-major axis of 2.36 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 4 ° with respect to the ecliptic. [1]
The asteroid's observation arc begins 8 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken by the Steward Observatory's Spacewatch survey at Kitt Peak in September 1991. [7]
Cappi is an assumed stony S-type asteroid. [3]
In September 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Cappi was obtained from photometric observation taken in the R-band at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. It showed a rotation period of 5.9389 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.78 magnitude ( U=2), indicating a non-spheroidal shape. [5]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 1.85 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 16.02. [3]
This minor planet was named after Margaret Capitola Sonntag Comba (born 1940), a psychologist and art therapist by profession, faculty member at Prescott College, and wife of the discoverer. [7] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 May 2004 ( M.P.C. 51981). [8]