4065 Meinel

4065 Meinel
Discovery[1]
Discovered by C. J. van Houten
I. van Houten
T. Gehrels
Discovery site Palomar Obs.
Discovery date 24 September 1960
Designations
MPC designation 4065 Meinel
Named after
Aden Meinel
(astronomer)[2]
2820 P–L · 1976 JF6
1986 GQ1
main-belt
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 62.35 yr (22,772 days)
Aphelion 2.4393 AU
Perihelion 2.0948 AU
2.2670 AU
Eccentricity 0.0759
3.41 yr (1,247 days)
262.26°
Inclination 5.1641°
22.791°
102.70°
Physical characteristics
14.0[1]

    4065 Meinel, provisional designation 2820 P–L, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California.[3] The first one to sight Meinel was Rainbow Observatory near Coonabarabran on August 14, 1953.[4]

    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 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,247 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.08 and is tilted by 5 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. Little is known about the asteroids size, composition, albedo and rotation, despite having a well-observed orbit with the lowest possible uncertainty (i.e. a condition code of 0) and an observation arc that spans over a period of more than 60 years.[1]

    The designation P–L stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory, where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with several thousand asteroid discoveries.

    The asteroid is named in honour of the American physicist and astronomer Aden Meinel (1922–2011).[2]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 4065 Meinel (2820 P-L)" (2015-12-19 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved January 2016.
    2. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (4065) Meinel. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 347. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved January 2016.
    3. "4065 Meinel (2820 P-L)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved January 2016.
    4. AstDyS Information System

    External links

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