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Discovery and designation
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|---|---|
| Discovered by | Jeremy B. Tatum and David D. Balam |
| Discovery site | Victoria, British Columbia |
| Discovery date | October 20, 1987 |
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Designations
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| MPC designation | 4789 |
| Alternate name(s) | 1987 UU2 |
| Epoch May 14, 2008 | |
| Ap | 2.5162510 |
| Peri | 1.9611672 |
| Eccentricity | 0.1239741 |
| Orbital period | 1223.4745201 |
| Mean anomaly | 66.25728 |
| Inclination | 1.27194 |
| Longitude of ascending node | 209.88561 |
| Argument of peri | 152.58293 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.9 |
4789 Sprattia (1987 UU2) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on October 20, 1987 by Jeremy B. Tatum and David D. Balam at Victoria, British Columbia.
The following citation is from MPC 18465:
(4789) Sprattia = 1987 UU2
Named in honor of Christopher E. Spratt, an active amateur member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for 20 years, with special interests in comets, minor planets, meteors and variable stars. He has written numerous articles on these subjects, including some on Canadian meteorites, in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and he has been of much practical help to the astrometric program carried out at the University of Victoria. Spratt maintains a carefully chosen representative collection of meteorites and was coordinator for the northwest North American section of the Amateur Observation Network of the International Halley Watch. He has contributed more than 32 000 observations of long-period and semiregular variable stars and dwarf novae to the American Association of Variable Star Observers and in 1976 was the most prolific observer of that year. The Chant Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada was bestowed upon him in 1988. Spratt holds an honors diploma in horticulture and, as a professional member of the gardening staff at the University of Victoria, does much to make the university a pleasant place in which to work. Citation provided by J. B. Tatum at the request of the discoverer.