| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn.[2] |
| Discovery date | 21 September 1987 |
| Designations | |
| (5677) Aberdonia | |
Named after | University of Aberdeen (Scottish university)[3] |
| 1987 SQ1 · 1973 UL1 1978 WN16 · 1989 AK8 | |
| main-belt · Koronis[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.27 yr (22,744 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0052AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6635 AU |
| 2.8344 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0603 |
| 4.77yr (1,743 days) | |
| 49.056° | |
| 0° 12m 23.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.5003° |
| 201.12° | |
| 216.63° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.19 km(calculated)[4] 8.798±0.114 km[5][6] |
| 5.0813±0.0410h[7] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[4] 0.250±0.022[5] | |
| S[4] | |
| 12.6[1][4] · 12.4[5] · 13.224±0.003(S)[7] · 12.70±0.32[8] | |
5677 Aberdonia, provisional designation1987 SQ1, is a stony Koronisasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 September 1987, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[2] The asteroid was named for the ScottishUniversity of Aberdeen.[3]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theKoronis family, a group consisting of about 200 known bodies with nearlyecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 9 months (1,743 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.06 and aninclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
In 1954, a firstprecovery was obtained atPalomar Observatory, extending the body'sobservation arc by 33 years prior to its official discovery at Anderson Mesa.[2]
In October 2011, a rotationallightcurve ofAberdonia was obtained from photometric observations at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of5.0813 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20magnitude (U=2).[7]
According to theNEOWISE mission of NASA's space-basedWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Aberdonia measures 8.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.25,[5][6] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 and calculates a diameter of 8.2 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.6.[4]
Thisminor planet was named for the ScottishUniversity of Aberdeen on its 500th anniversary in 1995.James Clerk Maxwell andGeorge Paget Thomson are the university's best known former holders of chairs of natural philosophy.[3]
The university is also known for its first chair of medicine in the English-speaking world, and for having taught astronomy already in the late 16th century.[3] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 15 February 1995(M.P.C. 24765).[9]
