| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Skiff |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 12 January 1983 |
| Designations | |
| (4147) Lennon | |
Named after | John Lennon (musician,The Beatles)[2] |
| 1983 AY · 1971 YG 1980 KA | |
| main-belt · Vestian[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 44.51 yr (16,258 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5524AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1712 AU |
| 2.3618 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0807 |
| 3.63yr (1,326 days) | |
| 88.732° | |
| 0° 16m 17.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.7326° |
| 288.57° | |
| 302.94° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.171±0.087 km[4][5] 7.13±0.37 km[6] 7.46 km(calculated)[3] |
| 137h[7] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[3] 0.240±0.049[6] 0.4166±0.0564[4] | |
| V[7]: 5 · S[3] | |
| 12.90[6] · 13.0[1][3][4] · 13.63±0.34[8] | |
4147 Lennon, provisional designation1983 AY, is a stony Vestianasteroid and a potentiallyslow rotator from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomerBrian Skiff at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station on 12 January 1983.[9] It was later named after musicianJohn Lennon.[2]
Lennon is a member of theVesta family, which is named after the main-belt's second largest asteroid,4 Vesta. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,326 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.08 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The first observation was made atCrimea–Nauchnij in 1971, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 12 years prior to its discovery.[9]
Lennon has been characterized as aV-type asteroid.[7]: 5
In October 2004, a rotationallightcurve ofLennon was obtained during a photometricsurvey of V-type asteroids at several observatories in Japan. The fragmentary lightcurve gave a very longrotation period of 137 hours with a high brightness variation of 0.6 inmagnitude (U=1).[7]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Lennon measures 5.2 and 7.1 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.24 of 0.42, respectively.[4][5][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo forS-type asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 7.5 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 13.0.[3] The discrepancy is due to disagreement on the body'sspectral type (V or S).
Thisminor planet was named in memory of English musicianJohn Lennon (1940–1980), famous for his song "Imagine" and co-founder ofThe Beatles, one of the most successful bands in the history of popular music.[2]
The minor planets8749 Beatles,4149 Harrison,4148 McCartney and4150 Starr, were named after the band and its three other members. The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 10 April 1990 (M.P.C. 16247).[10]
