| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 22 January 1983 |
| Designations | |
| (7225) Huntress | |
Named after | Wesley Huntress (astrochemist)[2] |
| 1983 BH · 1989 XJ | |
| main-belt · Flora [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 55.84 yr (20,394 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.8166AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8654 AU |
| 2.3410 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2032 |
| 3.58yr (1,308 days) | |
| 242.35° | |
| 0° 16m 30.72s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.8695° |
| 275.73° | |
| 203.51° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1 (synchronous, ⌀: 21%)[a][4] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.94±1.26 km[5] 6.58±0.33 km[6] 6.680±0.224 km[7][8] 6.748 km[9] 6.75 km(taken)[3] |
| 2.43995±0.00003h[b] 2.4400±0.0001 h[4] 2.44±0.01 h[c] | |
| 0.1558[9] 0.165±0.016[7][8] 0.257±0.034[6] 0.27±0.13[5] | |
| SMASS =S [1] · S [3] | |
| 13.00[6] · 13.00±0.03(R)[b] · 13.1[1] · 13.33±0.40[10] · 13.45[7] · 13.47[5] · 13.49±0.058[3][9] | |
7225 Huntress, provisional designation1983 BH, is abinary[a] Florianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 January 1983, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[11] It is named after astrochemistWesley Huntress.[2]
Huntress is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest families ofstony asteroids.[1][3] It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,308 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.20 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atPalomar in 1960, extending the body'sobservation arc by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation at Flagstaff.[11]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Huntress measures between 5.94 and 6.680 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.165 and 0.27.[5][6][7][8] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts Pravec's revised WISE-data and takes an albedo of 0.1558, a diameter of 6.75 kilometers and anabsolute magnitude of 13.49.[3][9]
In December 2007, two rotationallightcurves ofHuntress were independently obtained by astronomersPetr Pravec andDonald Pray. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 2.43995 and 2.4400 hours, respectively. The body's low brightness amplitude of 0.11magnitude suggest a nearly spheroidal shape (U=3/n.a.).[b][4] During the photometric observations, it was revealed, thatHuntress is a synchronousbinary asteroid with anasteroid moon orbiting it every 14.67 hours. The moon's diameter was estimated to be 21% of that ofHuntress (or 1.3 kilometers assuming a primary diameter of 6 km).[a][4]
In March 2012, Australian astronomerDavid Higgins obtained a concurring lightcurve with period of 2.44 hours and an amplitude of 0.11 magnitude (U=2).[c] For an asteroid of its size,Huntress has a relatively short spin rate, not much above the 2.2-hour threshold forfast rotators.
Thisminor planet was named in honor of American astrochemist and space scientistWesley Huntress (born 1942), who has been NASA's director of space science programs in the 1990s, and has pioneered research relevant to the chemical evolution ofinterstellar clouds,comets andplanetary atmospheres.[2] Naming citation was proposed by the discoverer and published on 8 August 1998 (M.P.C. 32348).[12]
