 Christophedumas and its satellite imaged by theHubble Space Telescope from May to July 2005 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | LINEAR |
| Discovery site | Lincoln Lab ETS |
| Discovery date | 5 April 2000 |
| Designations | |
| (17246) Christophedumas | |
| Pronunciation | /kriːstɔːfdjuːˈmɑː/[2] |
Named after | Christophe Dumas (planetary scientist)[3] |
| 2000 GL74 · 1973 VM | |
| main-belt · Koronis[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 45.84 yr (16,742 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9023AU |
| Perihelion | 2.7772 AU |
| 2.8398 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0220 |
| 4.79yr (1,748 days) | |
| 180.58° | |
| 0° 12m 21.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.4444° |
| 34.451° | |
| 229.77° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[5][6][a] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.5 km[7] 4.81 km(calculated)[4] |
| 10h[8] | |
| 0.21[5] | |
| S[4] | |
| 13.9[1][4] | |
17246 Christophedumas (provisional designation2000 GL74) is a stony Koronianasteroid andbinary system from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4.6 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 5 April 2000, by theLINEAR program atLincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, United States.[3] It was named after planetary scientist Christophe Dumas. The asteroid'sminor-planet moon was discovered in 2004.[5]
_2000_GL74.png)
Christophedumas is a member of theKoronis family, which is named after158 Koronis. It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.8–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 9 months (1,748 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.02 and aninclination of 2° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The asteroid'sobservation arc begins 29 years prior to its official discovery observation, with aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in April 1971.[3]
On 9 January 2129, Christophedumas will come within 3,639,998 kilometers of3 Juno, one of the largest asteroids in the main-belt, and will pass it with a relative velocity of 6.597 km/s.[1]
Christophedumas is a presumed stonyS-type asteroid. With analbedo of 0.21, it is more reflective than most asteroids in the outer main-belt.[5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts an albedo of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 4.81 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.9.[4]
In December 2007, a rotationallightcurve of Christophedumas was obtained from photometric observations by Israeli astronomerDavid Polishook and colleagues. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 10 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.15magnitude (U=n.a.).[8] The team of astronomers also ruled out that Christophedumas might be an Escaping Ejecta Binary (EEB), that are thought to be created by fragments ejected from a disruptive impact event.[8]
In 2004, aminor-planet moon, designatedS/2004 (17246) 1, was discovered orbiting its primary, making Christophedumas abinary asteroid.[5][a] With a secondary-to-primary mean-diameter ratio of 0.22, the moon measures approximately 1 kilometer in diameter, based on a diameter of 4.5 kilometers for its primary.[7] While its rotation period and orbital eccentricity is not yet known, it is known that the moon completes one orbit every 90 days (2034 hours) with asemi-major axis of 228 kilometers.[6][7]
From the surface of Christophedumas, the moon would have an apparent diameter of about 0.668°, slightly larger than theMoon appears fromEarth.[b]
Thisminor planet was named after planetary scientist Christophe Dumas (born 1968), an observer of Solar System objects and expert in usingadaptive optics. Dumas is a co-discoverer of the first asteroid moon imaged from Earth.[3] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 June 2016 (M.P.C. 100606).[9][10]
