6229 Tursachan
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Skiff |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Station of the Lowell Observatory |
| Discovery date | 4 November 1983 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | (6229) Tursachan |
| 1983 VN7 | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 11763 days (32.21 yr) |
| Aphelion | 3.6499281 AU (546.02147 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.5142954 AU (376.13324 Gm) |
| 3.082112 AU (461.0774 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1842297 |
| 5.41 yr (1976.4 d) | |
| 356.18777° | |
| 0° 10m 55.744s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.649510° |
| 146.27487° | |
| 234.35565° | |
| Earth MOID | 1.51576 AU (226.754 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.8053 AU (270.07 Gm) |
| Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 3.201 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 16.5962 h (0.69151 d) | |
| 13.2 | |
|
| |
6229 Tursachan (1983 VN7) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on November 4, 1983, by B. A. Skiff at the Anderson Mesa Station of the Lowell Observatory.
Citation
The name is "Standing Stones" in Gaelic, a term used to refer to the stones placed during neolithic times into small or large groups, often into circles, throughout the British Isles. Many of these arrangements exhibit astronomical alignments, and are thought to have been used in at least some cases to track the progression of seasons and mark the occurrence of other significant astronomical events. The name was suggested by Alice Cathryne Dennis, seventh-grade student at The Mountain School in Flagstaff, Arizona, as winner of a contest to name this asteroid in conjunction with the 1997 Flagstaff Festival of Science. Citation prepared by C. B. Luginbuhl.
References
- ↑ "6229 Tursachan (1983 VN7)". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
External links
- JPL Small-Body Database Browser on 6229 Tursachan
- Outer Hebrides website discussing naming process
- 6229 Tursachan at the JPL Small-Body Database
