| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Shoemaker D. H. Levy |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 May 1994 |
| Designations | |
| (13123) Tyson | |
Named after | Neil deGrasse Tyson (American astrophysicist)[2] |
| 1994 KA · 1995 YO2 | |
| main-belt · Phocaea[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.78 yr (23,297 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9996AU |
| Perihelion | 1.7201 AU |
| 2.3598 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2711 |
| 3.63yr (1,324 days) | |
| 78.622° | |
| 0° 16m 18.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 23.289° |
| 68.802° | |
| 252.04° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[5][6][a] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.22 km(calculated)[3] 10.87±0.61 km[7] |
| 3.329±0.001h[8] 3.3303±0.0002 h[5][a] | |
| 0.197±0.025[7] 0.23(assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.19±0.09(R)[5] · 12.20[7] · 12.3[1] · 12.41±0.41[9] · 12.64[3] | |
13123 Tyson, provisional designation1994 KA, is a stony Phocaeaasteroid and an asynchronousbinary system from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on May 16, 1994, by American astronomerCarolyn Shoemaker and Canadian astronomerDavid Levy at thePalomar Observatory in California, United States.[10] The asteroid was named forNeil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and popular science communicator.[2]
The stonyS-type asteroid is a member of thePhocaea family (701),[4] a rather small group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, named after its largest member,25 Phocaea. It orbits theSun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,324 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.27 and aninclination of 23° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atPalomar's Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) in 1953, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 41 years prior to its discovery.[10]
In February 2015, a rotationallightcurve was obtained by astronomerPetr Pravec at theAstronomical Institute, Czech Republic. It showed a well-definedrotation period of3.3303 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 inmagnitude (U=3).[5][a] A previous photometric observation in August 2009, at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory, Australia, gave a lightcurve with a similar period of3.329 hours and a brightness variation of 0.35 magnitude (U=3-).[8]
Tyson is an asynchronousbinary asteroid with aminor planet moon. The satellite has a rotation period of 3.862 hours. No other physical properties for this binary system has been published.[5][6][a]
According to the survey carried out by NASA's space-basedWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 10.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.197,[7] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23 and calculates a smaller diameter of 8.2 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.64.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of American astrophysicist and popular science communicator,Neil deGrasse Tyson (born 1958). In 1996, he became director of New York'sHayden Planetarium and was the chief scientist for its complete renovation. At the time, Tyson was also a research affiliate at Princeton University.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 11 November 2000 (M.P.C. 41572).[11]
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