| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Schildknecht |
| Discovery site | Zimmerwald Obs. |
| Discovery date | 12 September 1985 |
| Designations | |
| (3330) Gantrisch | |
Named after | Gantrisch mountain (SwissBernese Alps)[2] |
| 1985 RU1 · 1933 FY 1978 EF3 · 1978 GK1 1980 TU11 · 1980 XW1 1982 BZ · A918 UA | |
| main-belt · (outer) Lixiaohua[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 84.28 yr (30,785 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.7913AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5201 AU |
| 3.1557 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2014 |
| 5.61yr (2,048 days) | |
| 296.09° | |
| 0° 10m 32.88s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.266° |
| 9.8648° | |
| 305.86° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 35.717±0.477 km[4] |
| 0.033±0.005[4] | |
| X[5] | |
| 11.4[1] | |
3330 Gantrisch, provisional designation1985 RU1, is a darkasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt and the largest member of theLixiaohua family, approximately 36 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 September 1985, by Swiss astronomerThomas Schildknecht atZimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland.[6] It was named after theGantrisch mountain.[2]
Gantrisch is a member of theLixiaohua family, an outer-beltasteroid family of more than 700 known members, which consists ofC-type andX-type asteroids and is named after3556 Lixiaohua.[7]: 23 With diameter of 36 kilometers,Gantrisch is significantly larger than all other, low-numbered members of this family: 3556 Lixiaohua (20 km),5771 Somerville (26 km),5900 Jensen (19 km) and8773 Torquilla (14 km).
Since Gantrisch is the family's largest member, the Lixiaohua family is sometimes called "Gantrisch family".[3][5] However, renaming families leads to potential confusion and is discouraged by Nesvorný, who proposes to keep the original name and regards the family name as a "label", irrespective of whether or not its namesake is the largest and/or lowest numbered member.[7]: 15
Gantrisch orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,048 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.20 and aninclination of 10° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The asteroid was first identified asA918 UA atHeidelberg Observatory in October 1918.The body'sobservation arc also begins at Heidelberg in March 1933, more than 52 years prior to its official discovery observation at Zimmerwald.[6]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Gantrisch measures 35.717 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.033.[4]
As of 2017, no rotationallightcurve of Gantrisch has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid'srotation period, poles and shape remains unknown.[8]
Thisminor planet was named after theGantrisch mountain, located south of the discovering observatory in theBernese Alps.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 3 May 1996 (M.P.C. 27125).[9]
