8405 Asbolus

8405 Asbolus

Artist's impression of 8405 Asbolus
Discovery
Discovered by	J. V. Scotti and R. Jedicke
Discovery date	April 5, 1995
Designations
Alternate name	1995 GO
Minor planet category	centaur
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch November 30, 2008 (JD 2454800.5)
Aphelion	29.31 AU
Perihelion	6.843 AU
Semi-major axis	18.07 AU
Eccentricity	0.6214
Orbital period	76.88 yr
Average orbital speed	?
Mean anomaly	29.6
Inclination	17.61
Longitude of ascending node	6.0
Argument of perihelion	290.4
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	76 km[2]
Mass	?
Mean density	?
Equatorial surface gravity	?
Escape velocity	?
Rotation period	8.87 hr[1]
Albedo	0.05[3] 0.12±0.03[4]
Spectral type	?
Absolute magnitude (H)	9.0[1]

8405 Asbolus (pronounced /ˈæzbələs/, from Greek: Άσβολος) is a centaur, that is, an icy asteroid that orbits between Jupiter and Neptune. It was discovered by James V. Scotti and Robert Jedicke of Spacewatch at Kitt Peak Observatory on April 5, 1995. It is named after Asbolus (Greek for sooty), a centaur in Greek mythology. Its provisional designation was 1995 GO.

[edit] Crater

Asbolus is about 76 km in diameter.^[2] No resolved images of it have ever been made but, in 1998, spectral analysis of its composition by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a fresh impact crater on its surface, less than 10 million years old.^[5] Centaurs are dark in colour, because their icy surfaces have darkened after long exposure to solar radiation and the solar wind. However, fresh craters excavate more reflective ice from below the surface, and that is what Hubble has detected on Asbolus.

[edit] Orbit

Centaurs have short dynamical lives due to strong interactions with the giant planets. Asbolus is estimated to have an orbital half-life of about 860 kiloannum.^[6]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 8405 Asbolus (1995 GO)" (2008-02-26 last obs). Retrieved on 2008-09-03.
2. ^ ^{a b} Wm. Robert Johnston (22 August 2008). "List of Known Trans-Neptunian Objects". Johnston's Archive. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
3. ^ John Stansberry, Will Grundy, Mike Brown, Dale Cruikshank, John Spencer, David Trilling, Jean-Luc Margot (2007). "Physical Properties of Kuiper Belt and Centaur Objects: Constraints from Spitzer Space Telescope". University of Arizona, Lowell Observatory, California Institute of Technology, NASA Ames Research Center, Southwest Research Institute, Cornell University. Retrieved on 2008-10-18.
4. ^ Fernández, Yanga R.; Jewitt, David C.; Sheppard, Scott S. (2002). "Thermal Properties of Centaurs Asbolus and Chiron". The Astronomical Journal 112 (2): 1050–1055. doi:10.1086/338436, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2002AJ....123.1050F&db_key=AST&high=3d6ea7529520107. Retrieved on 6 October 2004. 
5. ^ "Centaur's Bright Surface Spot Could be Crater of Fresh Ice". Hubblesite (STScI-2000-31) (September 14, 2000). Retrieved on 2004-04-12.
6. ^ Horner, J.; Evans, N.W.; Bailey, M. E. (2004). Simulations of the Population of Centaurs I: The Bulk Statistics, http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph?papernum=0407400. Retrieved on 1 September 2008. 

[edit] External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris