| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | L. D. Schmadel F. Börngen |
| Discovery site | Karl Schwarzschild Obs. |
| Discovery date | 14 October 1990 |
| Designations | |
| (8661) Ratzinger | |
Named after | Pope Benedict XVI (Pope,chronology)[2] |
| 1990 TA13 · 1969 US 1974 TM1 · 1992 CB1 | |
| main-belt · (outer) Eos[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 31 May 2020 (JD 2459000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 49.86 yr (18,213 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1158AU |
| Perihelion | 2.9001 AU |
| 3.0080 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0359 |
| 5.22yr (1,906 days) | |
| 176.919° | |
| 0° 11m 20.04s / day | |
| Inclination | 10.556° |
| 38.061° | |
| 90.968° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 13.394±0.198[4] |
| 4.301035±0.000002 h[5] | |
| 0.090±0.011[4] | |
| S[6] | |
| 12.3[1] | |
8661 Ratzinger, provisional designation1990 TA13, is an Eoanasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 13.4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 14 October 1990, by German astronomersLutz Schmadel andFreimut Börngen at theKarl Schwarzschild Observatory in Tautenburg, eastern Germany.[7] The asteroid was named after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who becamePope Benedict XVI.[2]
Ratzinger is a member of theEos family (606),[3] the largestasteroid family in theouter main belt consisting of nearly 10,000 asteroids.[8]: 23 It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.9–3.1 AU once every 5 years and 3 months (1,906 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.04 and aninclination of 11° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
In October 1969, it was first identified as1969 US atCrimea–Nauchnij. The body'sobservation arc begins atLeoncito in 1974, when it was identified as1974 TM1, 16 years prior to its official discovery observation at Tautenburg.[7]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Ratzinger measures 13.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.09.[4] In 2018,Josef Ďurechet al. measured its rotation period as4.301035±0.000002 hours and provided a partial shape model.[5]
As of 2020,Ratzinger's composition remains unknown.[1][6]
Thisminor planet was named after GermanJoseph Ratzinger (born 1927), then Cardinal and professor of theology, for the role he played in supervising the opening of theVatican Secret Archives in 1998 to researchers investigating judicial errors against Galileo, after whom the minor planet697 Galilea is named, and other medieval scientists.[2]
Ratzinger was considered to be one of the most authoritative voices in the Vatican and becamePope Benedict XVI in 2005. The name was proposed by the asteroid's first discoverer,Lutz Schmadel.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 23 May 2000 (M.P.C. 40702).[9]
