| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Skiff |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 12 January 1983 |
| Designations | |
| (3872) Akirafujii | |
Named after | Akira Fujii(Japaneseastrophotographer)[2] |
| 1983 AV · 1931 AY | |
| main-belt · (middle) Eunomia [3]Mitidika [4] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.10 yr (31,447 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2025AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1199 AU |
| 2.6612 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2034 |
| 4.34yr (1,586 days) | |
| 324.03° | |
| 0° 13m 37.2s / day | |
| Inclination | 13.042° |
| 94.761° | |
| 66.126° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 12.538±0.340 km[5][6] 15.16±1.3 km(IRAS:13)[7] 15.20 km(derived)[3] 21.43±1.51 km[8] |
| 10.635h[9] 22.289±0.003 h[10] | |
| 0.029±0.005[8] 0.0583±0.011(IRAS:13)[7] 0.0697(derived)[3] 0.085±0.012[5][6] | |
| C [11] · S(assumed)[3] | |
| 12.44±0.26[11] · 12.6[1][3] · 12.8[7][8][5] | |
3872 Akirafujii, provisional designation1983 AV, is a carbonaceous Eunomiaasteroid from the middle region of theasteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 12 January 1983, by American astronomerBrian Skiff at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station, near Flagstaff, Arizona.[12] It was later named after Japanese astronomerAkira Fujii.[2]
Akirafujii has been identified as a member of theMitidika family, a dispersedasteroid family of typically carbonaceousC-type asteroids. The family is named after2262 Mitidika (diameter of 9 km) and consists of 653 known members, the largest ones being404 Arsinoë (95 km) and5079 Brubeck (17 km).[4][13]: 23 It has also been described as a member of theEunomia family, a large group of otherwise predominantlystony asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt.
It orbits the Sun in thecentral main-belt at a distance of 2.1–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,586 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.20 and aninclination of 13° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atLowell Observatory in 1931, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 52 years prior to its discovery.[12]
Akirafujii has been characterized as a darkC-type asteroid byPanSTARRS' photometric survey,[11] which agrees with the Mitidika family's overallspectral type.[13]: 23
In August 2005 and November 2012, two rotationallightcurves were obtained through photometric observations at the Chiro Observatory, Australia, and at the Preston Gott Observatory in Texas, United States, respectively. The ambiguous lightcurve from Chiro Observatory showed arotation period of10.635 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 inmagnitude, when using the longer solution (U=2).[9] The other lightcurve at Preston Gott gave a period of22.289±0.003 hours with an amplitude of 0.23 (U=2-).[10]
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite, and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Akirafujii measures between 12.5 and 21.4 kilometers, and its surface has a lowalbedo in the range of 0.03 to 0.09.[7][8][5][6]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) derives an albedo of 0.07 and calculates a diameter of 15.2 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.6.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in honour of Japanese astronomerAkira Fujii (born 1941), a prominent astronomy communicator andastrophotographer at his Chiro Observatory in Shirakawa, Fukushima prefecture. Editor of the "Star Handbook" (Hoshi No Techou) and author of an astronomy book series for young people, Fujii has also publicized astronomy on TV, and he has toured the country during the 1986 apparition ofHalley's Comet, encouraging the public to observe it with a 0.6-meter reflector telescope mounted on his trailer. Internationally, Fujii is most famous for his excellent celestial images.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 29 November 1993 (M.P.C. 22829).[14]
