| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | G. Soulié |
| Discovery site | Bordeaux Obs. |
| Discovery date | 19 October 1968 |
| Designations | |
| (1918) Aiguillon | |
Named after | Aiguillon(French town)[2] |
| 1968 UA | |
| main-belt · (outer) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.93 yr (22,985 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.6118AU |
| Perihelion | 2.7755 AU |
| 3.1936 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1309 |
| 5.71yr (2,085 days) | |
| 145.64° | |
| Inclination | 9.1961° |
| 195.12° | |
| 245.30° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 19.536±0.090 km[3] 20±8 km(generic)[4] |
| 0.062±0.012[3] | |
| 11.7[1] | |
1918 Aiguillon provisional designation1968 UA, is a darkasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered by French astronomerGuy Soulié atBordeaux Observatory, France, on 19 October 1968.[5] The asteroid was named for the French town ofAiguillon.[2]
Aiguillon orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.8–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,085 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 9° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The first observation was aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in 1954, extending the body'sobservation arc by 14 years prior to its official discovery observation.[5]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Aiguillon measures 19.5 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has analbedo of 0.062.[3]
Based on a genericmagnitude-diameter conversion, the body measures between 12 and 28 kilometers, for an albedo in the range of 0.05 to 0.25 and anabsolute magnitude of 11.7.[4] As of 2017,Aiguillon's composition,rotation period and shape remain unknown.[6]
Thisminor planet was named for the discoverer's birthplace,Aiguillon, a small town on the Garonne river in France.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 December 1979 (M.P.C. 5038).[7]
