| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LONEOS |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 30 April 1998 |
| Designations | |
| (22577) Alfiuccio | |
Named after | Alfio "Alfiuccio" Grasso(Italian boy)[2] |
| 1998 HT51 · 1999 UZ8 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 20.11 yr (7,345 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.6306AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9499 AU |
| 2.2903 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1486 |
| 3.47yr (1,266 days) | |
| 123.89° | |
| 0° 17m 3.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.8671° |
| 65.751° | |
| 251.04° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 2.40 km(calculated)[3] |
| 4.3704±0.0024h[4] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 14.8[1] · 14.816±0.010(R)[4] · 15.27[3] | |
22577 Alfiuccio (provisional designation1998 HT51) is a stony Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 2.4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 April 1998, by theLowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search atAnderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[5] It was named in memory of Alfio Grasso, an Italian boy from Sicily.[2]
Alfiuccio is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest families ofstony asteroids. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,266 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.15 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The asteroid'sobservation arc begins 20 months prior to its official discovery observation, with aprecovery taken at the ChineseXinglong Station in December 1996.[5]
In December 2010, a rotationallightcurve of Alfiuccio was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band at thePalomar Transient Factory, California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of4.3704 hours with a brightness variation of 0.36magnitude (U=2).[4]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes analbedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 2.4 kilometers, based on a weaker absolute magnitude of 15.27.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in memory of Alfio "Alfiuccio" Grasso (1992–2004) who died in a hunting accident on the slopes ofMount Etna, Italy. The body's name was proposed by C. Blanco and M. Di Martino.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 6 August 2009 (M.P.C. 66725).[6]
