| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (2003) Harding | |
Named after | Karl Harding (German astronomer)[2] |
| 6559 P-L · 1934 XH 1941 BH · 1952 BP 1952 DT · 1971 SU1 1972 YT · 1973 AG1 | |
| main-belt · (outer) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 82.47 yr (30,122 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.4477AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6723 AU |
| 3.0600 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1267 |
| 5.35yr (1,955 days) | |
| 98.138° | |
| 0° 11m 2.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 1.8693° |
| 64.474° | |
| 70.697° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 20.173±0.112[3] |
| 2.96 h (0.123 d)[4] | |
| 0.065±0.005[3] | |
| C[5] | |
| 12.0[1] | |
2003 Harding, provisional designation6559 P-L, is a carbonaceous Eoanasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 18 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during thePalomar–Leiden survey on 24 September 1960, by astronomersIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, andTom Gehrels at Palomar, California.[6] The asteroid was later named after astronomerKarl Ludwig Harding.[2]
The asteroid is a member of theEos family.[4] Orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.4AU once every 5 years and 4 months, the asteroid's path is nearly coplanar to the plane of the ecliptic with anorbital inclination of less than 2 degrees. It has a short rotation period of three hours.[1]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands forPalomar–Leiden, named afterPalomar 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 ofseveral thousand asteroid discoveries.[7]
The asteroid is named after German astronomerKarl Ludwig Harding (1765–1834), who discovered the minor planet3 Juno. He is also honored by the lunar craterHarding.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 15 October 1977 (M.P.C. 4238).[8]
