.png) Yellow-Blue orbit is of 32226 Vikulgupta. | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Lab's ETS |
| Discovery date | 23 July 2000 |
| Designations | |
| (32226) Vikulgupta | |
Named after | Vikul Gupta (2016Intel STS awardee)[2] |
| 2000 OQ23 · 1999 CY85 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 19.56 yr (7,143 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5878AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0633 AU |
| 2.3256 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1128 |
| 3.55yr (1,295 days) | |
| 322.00° | |
| 0° 16m 40.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.2004° |
| 302.69° | |
| 320.95° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 3.11 km(calculated)[3] 3.776±0.134 km[4][5] |
| 2.57±0.05h[6] 2.5724±0.0006 h[7] | |
| 0.215±0.036[5] 0.2153±0.0356[4] 0.24(assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 14.4[4] · 14.55±0.16(R)[6] · 14.613±0.005(R)[7] · 14.7[1][3] · 15.33±0.43[8] | |
32226 Vikulgupta (provisional designation2000 OQ23) is a stony Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 3.5 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 23 July 2000, by theLINEAR team atLincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States. It was named for Vikul Gupta, a 2016Intel STS awardee.[2]
Vikulgupta is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups ofstony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,295 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.11 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
A firstprecovery was taken atWhipple Observatory in 1997, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 3 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.[2]
In February 2013, two rotationallightcurves of Vikulgupta were obtained from photometric observations at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of2.57 and2.5724 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 and 0.34magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).[6][7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA's space-basedWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Vikulgupta measures 3.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.215,[4] while 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 3.1 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 14.7.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after Vikul Gupta (born 1998), a science competition finalist in the 2016Intel Science Talent Search, who was awarded for his computer science project. At the time, he attended the U.S.Oregon Episcopal School in Portland.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 21 May 2016 (M.P.C. 100315).[9]
