(7720) Lepaute

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Asteroid
(7720) Lepaute
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Epoch:  December 9, 2014 ( JD 2,457,000.5)
Orbit type Main outer belt asteroid
Asteroid family Themis family
Major semi-axis 3.2489  AU
eccentricity 0.1591
Perihelion - aphelion 2.7319 AU - 3.7658 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 0.6024 °
Length of the ascending node 175.0211 °
Argument of the periapsis 188.7265 °
Sidereal period 5.86 a
Mean orbital velocity 16.53 km / s
Physical Properties
Absolute brightness 14.6 mag
history
Explorer Cornelis Johannes van Houten ,
Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld ,
Tom Gehrels
Date of discovery September 26, 1960
Another name 4559 PL , 1978 WN 17
Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . The affiliation to an asteroid family is automatically determined from the AstDyS-2 database . Please also note the note on asteroid items.

(7720) Lepaute is an asteroid of the main outer belt that was discovered on September 26, 1960 by the Dutch astronomer couple Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld . The discovery was made as part of the Palomar-Leiden survey , during which Tom Gehrels examined field plates recorded at the University of Leiden with the 120 cm Oschin Schmidt telescope of the Palomar observatory ( IAU code 675) .

The asteroid belongs to the Themis family, a group of asteroids named after (24) Themis .

(7720) Lepaute was named after the French astronomer during the Enlightenment, Nicole-Reine Lepaute (1723–1788), who in 1762 calculated the exact time of the 1764 solar eclipse.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The family membership of (7720) Lepaute in the AstDyS-2 database (English)

Web links