| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | H. Debehogne G. de Sanctis |
| Discovery site | La Silla Obs. |
| Discovery date | 26 February 1981 |
| Designations | |
| (3268) De Sanctis | |
Named after | Giovanni de Sanctis[1] (second discoverer) |
| 1981 DD · 1979 UQ4 1979 WZ1 · 1990 WV15 | |
| main-belt · (inner) Flora[2] · Vesta[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 65.44yr (23,902 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.6447AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0490 AU |
| 2.3469 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1269 |
| 3.60 yr (1,313 d) | |
| 329.92° | |
| 0° 16m 26.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.3522° |
| 221.63° | |
| 74.723° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 5.88 km(derived)[2] 6.033±0.120 km[5][6] | |
| 17 h[7] | |
| 0.2280±0.0056[6] 0.228±0.006[5] 0.24(assumed)[2] | |
| S(assumed)[2] | |
| 13.1[4] · 13.10±0.29[8] 13.32[2][6][7] | |
3268 De Sanctis, provisional designation1981 DD, is a Vestianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 26 February 1981, by European astronomersHenri Debehogne andGiovanni de Sanctis at ESO'sLa Silla Observatory in northern Chile. The asteroid was named after the second discoverer.[1] The assumedS-type asteroid has arotation period of 17 hours.[2]
De Sanctis a member of theVesta family (401) when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[3] Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulateeucrites 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.[9][10] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements,De Sanctis has also been classified as a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[2]
The asteroid orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,313 days;semi-major axis of 2.35 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[4]
The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in December 1951, nearly three decades prior to its official discovery observation La Silla.[1]
De Sanctis is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid.[2]
A first rotationallightcurve ofDe Sanctis was obtained from photometric observations by Polish astronomerWiesław Wiśniewski at the University of Arizona. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 17 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.4magnitude (U=2).[7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,De Sanctis measures 6.033 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.228,[5][6] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, theparent body of the Flora family – and derives a diameter of 5.88 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.32.[2]
Thisminor planet was named by the first discoverer after the second,Giovanni de Sanctis (born 1949), an Italian astronomer at theObservatory of Turin, who closely collaborated withHenri Debehogne at theEuropean Southern Observatory inLa Silla, Chile, during the early 1980s. The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 June 1986 (M.P.C. 10849).[11]
