| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | R. H. McNaught |
| Discovery site | Siding Spring Obs. |
| Discovery date | 4 January 1989 |
| Designations | |
| (6708) Bobbievaile | |
Named after | Bobbie Vaile (astrophysicist)[2] |
| 1989 AA5 · 1979 PF 1989 CM9 · 1994 LB | |
| main-belt · (inner)[3] background | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 37.81 yr (13,811 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.8864AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0045 AU |
| 2.4455 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1803 |
| 3.82yr (1,397 days) | |
| 349.25° | |
| 0° 15m 27.72s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.076° |
| 115.81° | |
| 193.50° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1(period: 24.7 h)[4][3] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.074±0.176 km[5] |
| 12.3415±0.0004h[3] | |
| 0.169±0.016[5] | |
| S [3] | |
| 13.1[1] | |
6708 Bobbievaile, provisional designation1989 AA5, is a stony backgroundasteroid and asynchronousbinary system from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 January 1989, by Australian astronomerRobert McNaught at theSiding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia.[6] It is named afterBobbie Vaile.[2]
Bobbievaile is a stony, non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,397 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.18 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
It was first observed as1979 PF atEl Leoncito in 1979, extending the body'sobservation arc by 10 years prior to its official discovery observation at Siding Spring.[6]
On 7 May 2009, it was announced thatBobbievaile was determined to be abinary asteroid based on a series oflightcurve observations.Bobbievaile (theprimary) is estimated to have a diameter of8.02±0.02 km, and itsminor-planet moon (the secondary) to have a diameter of approximately 4.57 km.[4] The primary is probablyspherical.
Thisminor planet was named in memory of Australian astrophysicistRoberta Anne "Bobbie" Vaile (1959–1996), lecturer atWestern Sydney University. She was aSETI enthusiast and participated in both the establishment of the SETI Australia Centre and the conduction ofProject Phoenix.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 April 1997 (M.P.C. 29671).[7]
