(4015) Wilson-Harrington

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Asteroid
(4015) Wilson-Harrington
4015 Wilson-Harrington Eso9212b.jpg
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Orbit type Apollo type
Major semi-axis 2.6382  AU
eccentricity 0.6237
Perihelion - aphelion 0.9927 AU - 4.2826 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 2.785 °
Sidereal period 4,285 a
Mean orbital velocity 18.34 km / s
Physical Properties
Medium diameter 2 km
Albedo 0.05
Rotation period 3.556 h
Absolute brightness 15,703 likes
Spectral class CF
history
Explorer Eleanor F. Helin
Date of discovery November 15, 1979
Another name 1979 VA
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.

(4015) Wilson-Harrington is a near-earth asteroid (group of near-earth objects ), which was rediscovered on November 15, 1979 by Eleanor F. Helin at the Mount Palomar Observatory.

The asteroid is named after the two American astronomers and joint discoverers Albert George Wilson and Robert G. Harrington . They had already discovered the celestial body 30 years earlier, on November 19, 1949, also at Mount Palomar, but the few images were not enough to allow a sufficiently precise determination of the orbit parameters, and so the asteroid was lost again. At that time recordings are indications pointed to a meteoric nature of the celestial body, which is why as a periodic comet the designation 107P / Wilson-Harrington received.

No further signs of a comet could be found on more recent images that have been taken since Helin's rediscovery. It is therefore suspected that this is an extinct, inactive cometary nucleus that only shows occasional eruptions. The eccentricity of the orbit, which is very large at 0.624 for an asteroid, is also more typical of a periodic comet.

The Deep Space 1 mission called for a close flyby; the encounter could not take place due to technical difficulties.

See also

Web links