| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 5 August 1981 |
| Designations | |
| (3402) Wisdom | |
Named after | Jack Wisdom[2] (American planetary scientist) |
| 1981 PB | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 41.20yr (15,047 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.7283AU |
| Perihelion | 1.5352 AU |
| 2.1317 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2798 |
| 3.11 yr (1,137 d) | |
| 285.37° | |
| 0° 19m 0.12s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.8531° |
| 357.87° | |
| 303.69° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.5266 AU (205LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 2.05±0.49 km[5] 2.50±0.50 km[6] 2.59 km (derived)[4] | |
| 4.9949±0.0001 h[7] 4.9951±0.0001 h[a] | |
| 0.20 (assumed)[4] 0.283±0.113[6] 0.32±0.16[5] | |
| S (assumed)[4] | |
| 14.85±0.11 (R)[a] 15.00[1][6] 15.13±0.26[8] 15.34[4][9] 15.44[5] | |
3402 Wisdom, provisional designation1981 PB, is a stonyasteroid andMars-crosser on an eccentric orbit from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 August 1981, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States.[3] The presumed brightS-type asteroid has arotation period of 4.99 hours.[4] It was named after American planetary scientistJack Wisdom.[2]
Wisdom 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 at a distance of 1.5–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 1 month (1,137 days;semi-major axis of 2.13 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.28 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in February 1977, more than 4 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[3]
Wisdom is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid.[4]
In October 2006, two rotationallightcurves of Wisdom were obtained from photometric observations atOndřejov,Skalnaté pleso and Carbuncle Hill observatories (912;I00). Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 4.9949 and 4.9951 hours with a high brightness variation of 0.75 and 0.74magnitude, respectively (U=3/3).[7][a] A high brightness amplitude typically indicate that the body has an elongated rather than spherical shape.
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Wisdom measures 2.05 and 2.50 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.32 and 0.283, respectively.[5][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 2.59 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 15.34.[4]
With amean diameter of approximately 2.5 kilometers, Wisdom is one of the smaller mid-sized Mars-crossing asteroids. It is assumed that there are up to 10 thousand Mars-crossers larger than 1 kilometer.[10] The largest members of this dynamical group are132 Aethra,323 Brucia,2204 Lyyli and512 Taurinensis, which measure between 43 and 25 kilometers in diameter.
Thisminor planet was named afterJack Wisdom (born 1953), a dynamicist and professor ofplanetary sciences atMIT. Wisdom pioneered in the study of the dynamics and long-term stability of theSolar System, and demonstrated the dynamical mechanism for the clearing of asteroid in theKirkwood gaps of the asteroid belt.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 2 February 1988 (M.P.C. 12803).[11]
