40463 Frankkameny

40463 Frankkameny
Discovery [1]
Discovered by G. W. Billings
Discovery site Calgary
Discovery date 15 September 1999
Designations
MPC designation 40463 Frankkameny
Named after
 Frank Kameny
(gay rights activist)[lower-alpha 1]
1999 RE44 · 1997 EJ19
main-belt · (outer) [2]
Orbital characteristics [1]
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 18.15 yr (6,631 days)    
Aphelion 3.2837 AU
Perihelion 2.2824 AU
2.7831 AU
Eccentricity 0.1798
4.64 yr (1,696 days)
168.84°
Inclination 2.4487°
302.98°
31.279°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 4.23 km (calculated)[2]
56.5554 h[3]
0.057 (assumed)[2]
C [2]
15.2[1]

    40463 Frankkameny, provisional designation 1999 RE44, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Canadian amateur astronomer Gary Billings at Calgary on 15 September 1999.[4]

    The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,696 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.18 and is tilted by 2 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. It has a notably slow rotation period of 57 hours[3] and an albedo of about 0.06, as assumed by the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL).[2] The body has been observed for 11 oppositions now, not only by the discoverer in Calgary, but by many major observatories and astronomical sky surveys as well, such as the Catalina Sky Survey, the Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak-Spacewatch, and Pan-STARRS 1. Its well established orbital parameters have been verified via 318 observations as of 13 July 2012.[4]

    The minor planet was named in honour of American astronomer and gay rights activist Frank Kameny (1925–2011),[lower-alpha 1] by the Minor Planet Center and the International Astronomical Union on 3 July 2012. Frank Kameny was a Harvard-trained variable star astronomer. He died 11 October 2011.[5][6][7][8][9]

    References

    1. 1 2 The Minor Planet Center Citation reads: (40463) Frankkameny = 1999 RE44, Discovered 1999 Sept. 15 by G. W. Billings at Calgary.
      Frank E. Kameny (1925–2011) trained as a variable star astronomer in the 1950s, but joined the Civil Rights struggle. His contributions included removing homosexuality from being termed a mental disorder in 1973 and shepherding passage of the District of Columbia marriage equality law in 2009.Minor Planets Circular 79711
    1. 1 2 3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 40463 Frankkameny (1999 RE44)" (2015-04-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved December 2015.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 "LCDB Data for (40463) Frankkameny". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved December 2015.
    3. 1 2 Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved December 2015.
    4. 1 2 "40463 Frankkameny (1999 RE44)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved December 2015.
    5. ↑ US: Gay rights campaigner Frank Kameny has asteroid named for him, Pink News, 10 July 2012
    6. ↑ Asteroid between Mars, Jupiter named for US gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, The Washington Post, July 10, 2012
    7. ↑ Brett Zongker, Asteroid named for gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, Business Week, July 10, 2012
    8. ↑ Andrew Davis, Canadian names asteroid for Kameny; Anderson Cooper inspires Chinese, Windy City Times, 2012-07-10
    9. ↑ Freya Petersen, Canadian astronomer names asteroid after gay rights activist, Alaska Dispatch, July 11, 2012

    External links


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