_Anubis.png) Modelled shape ofAnubis from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. Tom Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (1912) Anubis | |
| Pronunciation | /əˈnjuːbɪs/[2] |
Named after | Anubis(Egyptian deity)[3] |
| 6534 P-L · 1938 DJ2 1943 DD · 1968 HQ | |
| main-belt · Koronis[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 74.27 yr (27,127 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.1736AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6387 AU |
| 2.9061 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0920 |
| 4.95yr (1,810 days) | |
| 154.97° | |
| 0° 11m 56.04s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.1576° |
| 76.223° | |
| 2025-Jun-23 | |
| 317.02° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 10.28 km(calculated)[4] 10.407±0.952 km[5] | |
| 4.626±0.001 h[4][6] 4.628±0.0012 h[6] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[4] 0.382±0.250[5] | |
| S[4] | |
| 11.406±0.001(R)[6] · 11.57[5] · 11.8[1] · 12.11[4] · 12.20±0.19[7] | |
1912 Anubis (prov. designation:6534 P-L) is a stonyKoronis asteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in diameter. It was named after the Egyptian deityAnubis.[3]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theKoronis family, a group consisting of about 200 known bodies. It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 11 months (1,810 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.09 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
Anubis was discovered on 24 September 1960, by the Dutch and Dutch–American astronomersIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, andTom Gehrels, who took the photographic plates atPalomar Observatory, California.[8] On the same night, the trio of astronomers also discovered1923 Osiris,1924 Horus and5011 Ptah, also named afterAncient Egyptian deities.
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands forPalomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory andLeiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar'sSamuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped thephotographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory whereastrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.[9]
Thisminor planet was named afterAnubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian god and protector of the dead.[3] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 November 1979 (M.P.C. 5013).[10]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Anubis measures 10.407 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.382,[5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a standard albedo forstony members of the Koronis family of 0.24, and calculates a diameter of 10.28 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.11.[4]
In 2010 and 2012, two rotationallightcurves ofAnubis were obtained from photometric observations at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 4.626 and 4.628 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.47 and 0.18magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).[6] CALL adopts the shorter period of 4.626 hours.[4]
