_Burns.png) Shape model ofBurns from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 24 November 1981 |
| Designations | |
| (2708) Burns | |
Named after | Joseph A. Burns[1] (American astronomer) |
| 1981 WT · 1951 GG 1961 DN · 1965 YB 1978 EL3 · A912 AE | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (outer) Themis[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 66.42yr (24,261 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.6268AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5337 AU |
| 3.0803 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1774 |
| 5.41 yr (1,975 d) | |
| 227.73° | |
| 0° 10m 56.28s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.7828° |
| 111.65° | |
| 331.24° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 13.63±3.61 km[5] 20.085±0.110 km[6] 20.263±0.244 km[7] 20.4±2.0 km[8] 22±2 km[9] | |
| 5.315±0.003 h[10] | |
| 0.051±0.003[7] 0.06±0.01[9] 0.07±0.01[8] 0.0836±0.0151[6] 0.12±0.11[5] | |
| SMASS =B[2][3] | |
| 11.8[6] · 12.00[5][8][9] 12.1[2][3] | |
2708 Burns (prov. designation:1981 WT) is a carbonaceousThemistian asteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 November 1981, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at theAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States. It was named after American planetary scientistJoseph A. Burns.[1] The likely elongatedB-type asteroid has arotation period of 5.3 hours.[3]
Burns is a Themistian asteroid that belongs to theThemis family (602),[3][4] a very largefamily of carbonaceous asteroids, named after24 Themis.[11] It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,975 days;semi-major axis of 3.08 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.18 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[2]
The asteroid was first observed asA912 AE at Winchester Observatory (799) in January 1912. The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken atGoethe Link Observatory in February 1950, more than 31 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[1]
Thisminor planet was named afterJoseph A. Burns (born 1941), Americanplanetary scientist and astronomer atCornell University in New York,[1] anda co-discoverer of the trans-Neptunian object(385191) at Palomar in 1997. The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 4 August 1982 (M.P.C. 7158).[12]
In theSMASS classification,Burns is a carbonaceousB-type,[2][3] which are somewhat brighter than the commonC-type asteroids.
In March 2010, a rotationallightcurve ofBurns was obtained fromphotometric observations by French amateur astronomerRené Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 5.315 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.52magnitude, indicative for a non-spherical shape (U=3).[10]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Burns measures between 13.63 and 22 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.051 and 0.12.[5][6][7][8][9] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 17.86 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.1.[3]
