(8962) Noctua

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asteroid
(8962) Noctua
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Epoch:  February 16, 2017 ( JD 2,457,800.5)
Orbit type Main outer belt asteroid
Major semi-axis 3.1964  AU
eccentricity 0.0782
Perihelion - aphelion 2.9464 AU - 3.4464 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 4.7477 °
Length of the ascending node 38.9911 °
Argument of the periapsis 21.6715 °
Time of passage of the perihelion 17th September 2018
Sidereal period 5.71 a
Mean orbital velocity 16.66 km / s
Physical Properties
Medium diameter 16.988 km (± 0.264)
Albedo 0.051 (± 0.009)
Absolute brightness 12.8 mag
history
Explorer Cornelis Johannes van Houten ,
Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld ,
Tom Gehrels
Date of discovery September 24, 1960
Another name 2771 PL
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.

(8962) Noctua is an asteroid of the main outer belt that was discovered on September 24, 1960 by the Dutch astronomer couple Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld . The discovery came about 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 .

With an albedo of 0.05, the asteroid has a dark surface.

(8962) Noctua is named after the little owl , whose scientific name is Athene noctua . At the time the asteroid was named on February 2, 1999, the little owl was on the Dutch Red List of Endangered Species .

Web links