| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | P. Jensen |
| Discovery site | Brorfelde Obs. |
| Discovery date | 25 September 1987 |
| Designations | |
| (5171) Augustesen | |
Named after | Karl Augustesen[1] (Danish astronomer) |
| 1987 SQ3 · 1953 RP 1953 RP1 · 1989 CH8 | |
| main-belt · (inner) background[2] · Vestian[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[4] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 64.15yr (23,430 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.7460AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1036 AU |
| 2.4248 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1325 |
| 3.78 yr (1,379 d) | |
| 14.269° | |
| 0° 15m 39.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.0844° |
| 322.10° | |
| 45.866° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.445±0.074 km[5] 6.81 km(calculated)[3] 9.02±2.21 km[6] 9.41±0.33 km[7] 9.73±2.59 km[8] | |
| 19.2±0.1 h(poor)[9] 480±10 h[10][a] | |
| 0.08±0.05[6] 0.10±0.06[8] 0.108±0.008[7] 0.20(assumed)[3] 0.245±0.034[5] | |
| X[11] · S[3] | |
| 13.10[5][8] · 13.20[3][7] 13.3[4] · 13.52[6] 13.75±0.50[11] | |
5171 Augustesen (provisional designation1987 SQ3) is a backgroundasteroid andslow rotator from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 25 September 1987, by Danish astronomerPoul Jensen at theBrorfelde Observatory in Denmark.[1] The suspectedtumbler and presumed Vestian asteroid has an exceptionally slowrotation period of 480 hours and possibly an elongated shape.[3] It was named after Danish astronomerKarl Augustesen.[1]
Augustesen is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[2] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of theVesta family (401), one of the main belt's largestasteroid families named after4 Vesta, the family'sparent body.[3]
It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,379 days;semi-major axis of 2.42 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[4] The asteroid was first observed as1953 RP and1953 RP1 atHeidelberg andGoethe Link Observatory, where the body'sobservation arc begins in September 1953, or 34 years prior to its official discovery observation at Brorfelde.[1]
Augustesen has been characterized as anX-type asteroid byPan-STARRS' photometric survey.[11] It is also an assumedS-type asteroid.[3]
In October 2006, a rotationallightcurve of Augustesen was obtained from photometric observations by Slovak astronomerAdrián Galád atModra Observatory. Lightcurve analysis gave a longrotation period of 480 hours with a high brightness amplitude of 0.8magnitude, indicative for a non-spherical shape (U=3).[10][a] The asteroid is aslow rotator with a period much longer than the typical 2 to 20 hours measured for most observed asteroids. Augustesen is also a suspectedtumbler with a non-principal axis rotation, also known as "tumbling".[3]
An alternative measurement byLaurent Bernasconi gave a much shorter period based on a fragmentary (poor) lightcurve (U=1).[9]
According to the surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Augustesen measures between 6.445 and 9.73 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.08 and 0.245.[5][6][7][8]
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.[3]
Thisminor planet was named afterKarl Augustesen (born 1945), a Danishastronomer and co-discoverer of minor planets. For several decades he had been an observer using the Schmidt telescope at the discoveringBrorfelde Observatory in Denmark, after which the asteroid3309 Brorfelde was named.[1]
The corrected official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 June 2005 (M.P.C. 54279).[12] In its preceding publication on 23 May 2005, the MPC erroneously named asteroid(6002) 1988 RO, which was discovered by Poul Jensen on 8 September 1988, as "6002 Augustesen" (M.P.C. 54173). As of 2018, theJPL SBDB still shows the (incorrect) discovery date of that other asteroid.[12]
