| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. G. Taff |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Lab's ETS |
| Discovery date | 28 April 1982 |
| Designations | |
| (3343) Nedzel | |
Named after | V. Alexander Nedzel[2] (manager at Lincoln Lab) |
| 1982 HS | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 34.91 yr (12,750 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0816AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6170 AU |
| 2.3493 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3117 |
| 3.60yr (1,315 days) | |
| 264.02° | |
| 0° 16m 25.32s / day | |
| Inclination | 25.011° |
| 43.460° | |
| 229.71° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.6811 AU · 265.3LD |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.18±1.09 km[5] 6.21±0.62 km[6] 6.81 km(calculated)[4] |
| 5.4620±0.0005h[7] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[4] 0.264±0.053[6] 0.29±0.11[5] | |
| S (SDSS-MFB)[4] | |
| 13.10[6] · 13.2[1][4] · 13.49[5] | |
3343 Nedzel, provisional designation1982 HS, is anasteroid and sizableMars-crosser on an eccentric orbit from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 April 1982, by astronomerLaurence Taff at theLincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site in Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States.[3] The asteroid was named in memory of Alexander Nedzel, a manager atMIT Lincoln Laboratory.[2]
Nedzel is aMars-crossing asteroid, a member of a dynamically unstable group, located between themain belt and thenear-Earth populations, and crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.6–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,315 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.31 and aninclination of 25° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Lincoln Lab ETS.[3]
Nedzel has been characterized as a common, stonyS-type asteroid bySDSS-MFB (Masi Foglia Bus).[4]
In July 2011, a rotationallightcurve of Nedzel was obtained from photometric observations at the Oakley Southern Sky Observatory (E09) in Australia. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 5.4620 hours with a high brightness variation of 0.56magnitude (U=3).[7] A high brightness amplitude is indicative for an elongated rather than spherical shape.
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Nedzel measures 5.18 and 6.21 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.29 and 0.264, respectively.[5][6]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 6.81 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.2.[4]
With a diameter close to 6.5 kilometers, Nedzel is somewhat smaller than the largest sizableMars-crossing asteroids such as1065 Amundsenia (9.75 km),1139 Atami (9.35 km),1508 Kemi (17 km),1011 Laodamia (7.4 km),1727 Mette (est. 9 km),1131 Porzia (7 km),1235 Schorria (est. 9 km),985 Rosina (8 km)1310 Villigera (15 km), and1468 Zomba (7 km); and significantly smaller than the largest members of this dynamical group, namely,132 Aethra,323 Brucia,2204 Lyyli and512 Taurinensis, which are all larger than 20 kilometers in diameter.
Thisminor planet was named in memory of V. Alexander Nedzel (died 1984), head ofMIT Lincoln Laboratory's Aerospace Division and supporter of the "Lincoln Laboratory Earth-Approaching Asteroid Search", presumably a precursor of theLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 June 1986 (M.P.C. 10849).[8]
