| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. Shoemaker E. Shoemaker |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 11 October 1985 |
| Designations | |
| (3640) Gostin | |
Named after | Victor Gostin[1] (Australian geologist) |
| 1985 TR3 · 1955 SS 1960 CB · 1970 CS 1972 VJ1 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) Flora[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 61.63yr (22,511 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.4175AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0311 AU |
| 2.2243 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0869 |
| 3.32 yr (1,212 d) | |
| 224.62° | |
| 0° 17m 49.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.3118° |
| 289.19° | |
| 155.59° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 7.148±0.088 km[5] 7.613±0.096 km[6] 8.58 km(calculated)[3] | |
| 3.26±0.05 h[7] 3.263±0.0009 h[8] 3.263±0.003 h[9] 3.2641±0.0005 h[10] | |
| 0.2127±0.0446[6] 0.239±0.036[5] 0.24(assumed)[3] | |
| SMASS =S[2][3] | |
| 12.26±0.14(R)[7] 12.398±0.001(R)[8] 12.5[2][3] 12.62±0.20[11] 12.9[6] | |
3640 Gostin, provisional designation1985 TR3, is a stony Florianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 11 October 1985, by American astronomer coupleCarolyn andEugene Shoemaker at thePalomar Observatory in California.[1] TheS-type asteroid has arotation period of 3.26 hours.[3] It was named for Australian geologistVictor Gostin.[1]
Gostin is a member of theGondolatsch-cluster within theFlora family (402),[3][4] a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt,[12]
It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days;semi-major axis of 2.22 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.09 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with its first observation as1955 SS at theGoethe Link Observatory in September 1955, or 30 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.[1]
In theSMASS classification,Gostin is a common, stonyS-type asteroid.[2]
In March 2010, a rotationallightcurve ofGostin was obtained fromphotometric observations at theOakley Southern Sky Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 3.2641 hours with a brightness variation of 0.40magnitude (U=3).[10] Concurring lightcurves were also obtained at thePalomar Transient Factory and at the Etscorn Campus Observatory (U=3/2/3).[3][7][8][9]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Gostin measures 7.148 and 7.613 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.239 and 0.2127, respectively.[5][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, theparent body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 8.58 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.5.[3]
Thisminor planet was named by the discoverers after Australian geologistVictor Gostin (born 1940) of theUniversity of Adelaide, who in the 1980s discovered the ejecta layer from theAcraman bolide impact at a distance of 300 kilometers from the impact site, withinEdiacaran sedimentary rocks of theFlinders Ranges,South Australia, which enabled the impact to be dated at ~580 Ma.[1][13] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 2 February 1988 (M.P.C. 12808).[14]
