| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. Chernykh |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 October 1979 |
| Designations | |
| 11264 Claudiomaccone | |
Named after | Claudio Maccone (Italian astronomer)[2] |
| 1979 UC4 · 1989 EC10 1991 PD14 | |
| main-belt · ((central)) background | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.27 yr (24,204 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1793AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9775 AU |
| 2.5784 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2331 |
| 4.14yr (1,512 days) | |
| 21.409° | |
| 0° 14m 17.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.5229° |
| 11.129° | |
| 57.936° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[3][4][5] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.203±0.295 km[6][7] 4.30 km(calculated)[3] |
| 3.18701±0.00005h[8] 3.1872±0.0006 h[5] 3.1872 h[9] 3.1873±0.0001 h[8] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[3] 0.432±0.094[6][7] | |
| V–R =0.520±0.035[4][5] S[3] · S/Q[5] | |
| 14.0[6] · 14.2[1][3] · 14.3[5] · 14.44±0.25[10] | |
11264 Claudiomaccone (provisional designation1979 UC4) is a stony backgroundasteroid andbinary system from the middle regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered 16 October 1979, byNikolai Chernykh atCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula.[11] It was named after the Italian astronomerClaudio Maccone.[2]
Claudiomaccone orbits the Sun in the (central) main-belt at a distance of 2.0–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,512 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.23 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1] Claudiomaccone comes closer to Mars than to the other planets, repeatedly approaching the Red Planet as close as 0.47 AU (70,300,000 km). In 2096 it makes a very rare approach to 65 Gm.[citation needed]
A firstprecovery was taken atPalomar Observatory in 1950, extending the body'sobservation arc by 29 years prior to its official discovery observation.[11]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission, Claudiomaccone measures 3.203 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.432,[6][7] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stonyS-type asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 4.30 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 14.2.[3]
In November 2004, a rotationallightcurve of Claudiomaccone was obtained from photometric observations by Ukrainian astronomer Yurij N. Krugly, using the 0.7-meter telescope at Chuguev Observation Station (121) and the 1-meter telescope atSimeiz Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 3.1872 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.15magnitude (U=n.a.).[5] An identical period with an amplitude of 0.12 magnitude, was also published byPetr Pravec in 2006.[9]
After the binary nature of Claudiomaccone was announced(see below), follow-up observations by a group of French, Swiss and Italian astronomers (including Claudio Maccone) in 2008 and 2012, gave a period 3.1873 and 3.18701 hours with an amplitude of 0.16 and 0.12 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2+).[8]
The obtained photometric observations from 2004, also revealed that Claudiomaccone is an asynchronousbinary system with aminor-planet moon orbiting it every 15.11 hours.[5] An identicalorbital period is also given by Pravec.[9] The discovery was announced in December 2005[4]
Based on a secondary to primary mean-diameter ratio of larger than 0.31, the moon's diameter is estimated to be at least 1.24 kilometers. Its orbit aroundClaudiomaccone has an estimatedsemi-major axis of 6 kilometers.[4][5]
Thisminor planet was named afterClaudio Maccone (born 1948), an ItalianSETI astronomer and space scientist atThales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. In his bookThe Sun as a Gravitational Lens: Proposed Space Missions he proposed the construction and launch of a spacecraft–antenna, called the FOCAL space mission. Outside the Solar System, at a distance of 550 AU, FOCAL could have a significantly better sensitivity detecting radio signals due to the Sun's magnifying gravitational lensing effect, as predicted by general relativity.[2] The official naming citation was published on 2 September 2001 (M.P.C.43382; 54279 and *35557).[12] In 2012, he succeed American astronomerSeth Shostak as chairman of the SETI Permanent Committee at theInternational Academy of Astronautics.
