| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Endate K. Watanabe |
| Discovery site | Kitami Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 March 1993 |
| Designations | |
| (6500) Kodaira | |
Named after | Keiichi Kodaira (Japanese astronomer)[2] |
| 1993 ET · 1970 GE1 1973 ST5 | |
| Mars-crosser [1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 47.15 yr (17,222 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.9033AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6061 AU |
| 2.7547 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4170 |
| 4.57yr (1,670 days) | |
| 181.45° | |
| 0° 12m 56.16s / day | |
| Inclination | 29.321° |
| 186.12° | |
| 255.49° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 9.487±2.081[5] 16.81 km(calculated)[4] |
| 5.3983±0.0026 h[6] 5.3988±0.0002 h[7] 5.400±0.001h[8] 5.496±0.009 h[9] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[4] 0.151±0.110[5] | |
| SMASS =B [1] · B [4] | |
| 12.39±0.21[10] · 12.6[1][4] · 12.640±0.007(R)[6] | |
6500 Kodaira, provisional designation1993 ET, is a highly eccentric, rare-typeasteroid and sizableMars-crosser from the central regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 March 1993, by Japanese amateur astronomersKin Endate andKazuro Watanabe atKitami Observatory in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan.[3] It was named for Japanese astronomerKeiichi Kodaira.[2]
Kodaira orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–3.9 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,670 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.42 and aninclination of 29° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
In April 1970, it was first identified as1970 GE1 at the ChileanCerro El Roble Station, extending the body'sobservation arc by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation at Kitami.[3]
In theSMASS classification,Kodaira is carbonaceous and uncommonB-type asteroid, of which only a few dozen bodies are currently known.[11]
In October 2014, a rotationallightcurve ofKodaira was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomerRobert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies (U81) in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of5.400 hours with a brightness variation of 0.78magnitude (U=3).[8]
Previous observations at Montgomery College Observatory (MCO), the Preston Gott and McDonald Observatories, and at thePalomar Transient Factory gave similar periods between 5.398 and 5.496 hours (U=3-/3-/2).[6][7][9]
According to first-year results from theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Kodaira measures 9.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.15,[5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 16.8 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.6.[4]
Thisminor planet was named after Keiichi Kodaira (born 1937), Japanese astronomer and director ofNAOJ, whose interests lie in astrophysics and galactic physics.[2]
In the 1980s, Kodaira was head ofIAU's commission ofTheory of Stellar Atmospheres (comm. 36). He was also instrumental for the completion of theSubaru Telescope project, of which he was the scientific director since its inception.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 June 1996 (M.P.C. 27331).[12]
