2003 Harding
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by |
Palomar–Leiden survey C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 2003 Harding |
Named after | Karl Harding[2] |
|
6559 P–L · 1934 XH 1941 BH · 1952 BP 1952 DT · 1971 SU1 1972 YT · 1973 AG1 | |
| main-belt | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 81.27 yr (29683 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.4444 AU (515.27 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.6761 AU (400.34 Gm) |
| 3.0602 AU (457.80 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.12554 |
| 5.35 yr (1955.4 d) | |
| 347.27° | |
| 0° 11m 2.796s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.8692° |
| 64.493° | |
| 71.257° | |
| Earth MOID | 1.6908 AU (252.94 Gm) |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.59269 AU (238.263 Gm) |
| Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 3.221 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 2.96 h (0.123 d) | |
| 12.0 | |
|
| |
2003 Harding, also designated 6559 P–L, is an asteroid in the asteroid belt discovered on September 24, 1960 by the three astronomers Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at Palomar, California.[3] The asteroid is a member of the Eos family.[4] Orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.4 AU once every 5 years and 4 months, the asteroid's path is nearly coplanar to the plane of the ecliptic with an orbital inclination of less than 2 degrees. It has a short rotation period of three hours.[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 Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. The trio are credited with several thousand asteroid discoveries.
The asteroid is named after German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding (1765–1834), who discovered the minor planet 3 Juno. He is also honored by the lunar crater Harding.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2003 Harding (6559 P-L)" (2015-09-11 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2003) Harding. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 162. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ↑ "2003 Harding (6559 P-L)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ↑ Alvarez-Candal, Alvaro; et al. (December 2004), "Rotational lightcurves of asteroids belonging to families", Icarus, 172 (2): 388–401, Bibcode:2004Icar..172..388A, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.06.008.
External links
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- 2003 Harding at the JPL Small-Body Database
