_Mour%25C3%25A3o.png) Shape model ofMourão from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | H. Debehogne |
| Discovery site | La Silla Obs. |
| Discovery date | 22 May 1980 |
| Designations | |
| (2590) Mourao | |
Named after | Ronaldo Mourão (Brazilian astronomer)[2] |
| 1980 KJ · 1949 WP 1963 SM · 1974 UN 1974 VG2 · 1974 XK | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 68.36yr (24,967 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.6200AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0648 AU |
| 2.3424 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1185 |
| 3.59 yr (1,309 d) | |
| 50.740° | |
| 0° 16m 29.64s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.1361° |
| 223.68° | |
| 165.80° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.96 km(calculated)[6] 7.880±1.058 km[7] | |
| 15.59±0.01 h[8] | |
| 0.40(assumed)[6] 0.605±0.296[7] | |
| V[6] | |
| 11.68[7] 12.4[1][3][6] | |
2590 Mourão (prov. designation:1980 kJ) is a brightVesta asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 22 May 1980, by Belgian astronomerHenri Debehogne atESO'sLa Silla Observatory in northern Chile.[1] TheV-type asteroid has arotation period of 15.6 hours.[6] It was named after Brazilian astronomerRonaldo Rogério de Freitas Mourão.[2]
Mourão is a core member of theVesta family.[4][5] Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulateeucrite (HED meteorites) and are thought to have originated deep within4 Vesta's crust, possibly from theRheasilvia crater, a largeimpact crater on its southern hemisphere near the South pole, formed as a result of a subcatastrophic collision. I has also been classified as a member of theFlora family (Zappala; double classification by Nesvorny), one of the largestasteroid clans in the main-belt.[5][6] It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,309 days;semi-major axis of 2.34 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.12 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The asteroid was first observed as1949 WP atUccle Observatory in November 1949. The body'sobservation arc begins with atprecovery taken atPurple Mountain Observatory in October 1973, almost seven years prior to its official discovery observation at La Silla.[1]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of Brazilian astronomerRonaldo Rogério de Freitas Mourão (1935–2014) at theNational Observatory of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro. His activities included the study of double stars, minor planets and comets. He participated extensively inESO's discoverer program of observations of minor planets. Mourão also wrote several astronomical books and was the founder of the Brazilian Museum for Astronomy (Portuguese:Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins).[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 2 July 1985 (M.P.C. 9767).[9]
Mourão has been characterized as a brightV-type asteroid.[6] V-type asteroids are less common than the abundantS-type asteroids but similar in composition, except for their higher concentration ofpyroxenes, an aluminium-rich silicate mineral.
According to the survey carried out by theWISE and subsequentNEOWISE mission, the body'salbedo amounts to 0.61,[7] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a somewhat less extraordinary value of 0.4.[6]
Photometric observations of this asteroid by Slovak astronomerAdrián Galád in September 2006, gave a rotationallightcurve with arotation period of15.59±0.01 hours and a brightness variation of0.49magnitude (U=3).[8] A second, less secure lightcurve was obtained by Italian astronomers Roberto Crippa and Federico Manzini in September 2013, which gave a divergent period of35.52 hours with an amplitude of 0.46 magnitude (U=2).[10]
