| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program) |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 22 September 1963 |
| Designations | |
| (1955) McMath | |
Named after | Robert McMath (astronomer, engineer)[2] |
| 1963 SR · 1936 BA 1949 XN · 1951 EP2 1953 RN · 1963 TK | |
| main-belt · Koronis[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 67.17 yr (24,535 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0388AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6703 AU |
| 2.8545 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0645 |
| 4.82yr (1,762 days) | |
| 32.257° | |
| 0° 12m 15.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.0053° |
| 258.11° | |
| 154.10° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 9.759±0.248 km[4][5] 10.31 km(calculated)[3] |
| 5.547±0.0315h[6] 5.57±0.00 h[7] 5.574±0.002 h[8] 5.5976±0.0315 h[6] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.322±0.041[4][5] | |
| S[3] | |
| 11.78±0.045(R)[8] · 11.9[4] · 11.97±0.15(R)[7] · 12.003±0.002(R)[6] · 12.1[1][3] · 12.42±0.53[9] · 12.498±0.003(S)[6] | |
1955 McMath, provisional designation1963 SR, is a stony Koronisasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered on 22 September 1963, by Indiana University'sIndiana Asteroid Program at itsGoethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.[10] It was later named after solar astronomerRobert Raynolds McMath.[2]
McMath is a stonyS-type asteroid and a member of theKoronis family, which is named after158 Koronis and consists of about 300 known bodies. It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 10 months (1,762 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.06 and aninclination of 1° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atGoethe Link Observatory in 1949, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 15 years prior to its discovery. The first (unused) observation atUccle Observatory dates back to 1936.[10]
It has a well determinedrotation period of5.574±0.002 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.30 inmagnitude (U=3).[8] Between 2011 and 2013, three additionallightcurves with concurring periods ofMcMath with an amplitude between 0.32 and 0.39 magnitude were obtained through photometric observations in the R- and S-band at the U.S.Palomar Transient Factory in California (U=2/3-/2).[7][6]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,McMath measures 9.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.32,[4] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo forstony members of the Koronis family of 0.24, and calculates a diameter of 10.3 kilometers.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after American solar astronomerRobert Raynolds McMath (1891–1962), who was also a bridge engineer and businessman. He was a co-donor and the director of theMcMath–Hulbert Observatory in Lake Angelus, Michigan, which was deeded to the University of Michigan. Under his advice, theNSF chose the site atKitt Peak National Observatory for theMcMath–Pierce Solar Telescope.
From the late 1950s, Robert McMath served as the first president ofAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy and thereafter as its chairman. The lunar craterMcMath is also named in his and his father's honour.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 March 1981 (M.P.C. 5848).[11]
