| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program) |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 October 1963 |
| Designations | |
| (2059) Baboquivari | |
Named after | Baboquivari Mountains (U.S. state of Arizona)[2] |
| 1963 UA | |
| Amor · NEO · (1+KM)[1][3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 53.51 yr (19,545 days) |
| Aphelion | 4.0580AU |
| Perihelion | 1.2460 AU |
| 2.6520 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.5302 |
| 4.32yr (1,577 days) | |
| 176.48° | |
| 0° 13m 41.52s / day | |
| Inclination | 11.076° |
| 200.92° | |
| 191.73° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.2537 AU · 98.8LD |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 1.9 km(est. at0.20)[4] |
| 16.0[1] | |
2059 Baboquivari, provisional designation1963 UA, is anasteroid classified asnear-Earth object of theAmor group, approximately 1.9 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by theIndiana Asteroid Program in 1963, it was later named after theBaboquivari Mountains in Arizona, United States.
Baboquivari is one of the lowest numbered near-Earth asteroids as it was already discovered on 16 October 1963. The discovery observation was made by theIndiana Asteroid Program atGoethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, in the United States. Three months later, it became alost asteroid until June 1976, when it was recovered by theSteward Observatory's 90-inchBok Telescope atKitt Peak National Observatory located in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.[3]
Baboquivari is anAmor asteroid – a subgroup of near-Earth asteroids that approach the orbit of Earth from beyond, but do not cross it. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.2–4.1 AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,577 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.53 and aninclination of 11° with respect to theecliptic.[1]The body'sobservation arc begins at the discovering observatory, 10 days after its official discovery observation.[3]
The asteroid has an Earthminimum orbit intersection distance of 0.2537 AU (38,000,000 km), which corresponds to 98.8lunar distances. It approached the Earth at a similar distance on 20 October 1963, shortly after its discovery. The eccentric asteroid is also aMars-crosser and approachedJupiter at a distance of about 1.4 AU on 20 April 1970.[1]
Little is known aboutBaboquivari's physical characteristics. Itsspectral type has never been determined.[1][5]
It is classified as a near-Earth object larger than one kilometer in diameter by theMinor Planet Center ("1+ KM").[3] A generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion gives a diameter of 1.9 kilometers, based on the body'sabsolute magnitude of 16.0 and an assumed standardalbedo for stonyS-type asteroids (Baboquivari would still measure 1.3 kilometers in diameter, if it had a higher albedo of 0.4, typically seen among bright members of theHungaria family).[4]
As of 2017, no rotationallightcurve ofBaboquivari has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid'srotation period, poles and shape remain unknown.[5]
Thisminor planet was named after the main-peak of theBaboquivari Mountains, a sacred location in the mythology of thePapago Indian Tribe. The Observatories of theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) are located on the Baboquivari land, just a few kilometers south ofKitt Peak.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 December 1979 (M.P.C. 5038).[6]
