| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | J. Helffrich |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 October 1909 |
| Designations | |
| (2056) Nancy | |
Named after | Nancy Lou Zissell Marsden (wife ofBrian G. Marsden)[2] |
| 1909 TB · 1929 VQ 1942 RA1 · 1962 XE 1972 VC1 · 1974 HL2[1] | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (inner)[4] background[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 108.60yr (39,665 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5253AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9098 AU |
| 2.2175 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1388 |
| 3.30 yr (1,206 d) | |
| 303.73° | |
| 0° 17m 54.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.9361° |
| 225.77° | |
| 145.80° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 7.783±0.150 km[6] 8.227±0.085 km[7] 10.30 km(calculated)[4] 11.19±2.42 km[8] | |
| 15.0 h[a] | |
| 0.16±0.08[8] 0.20(assumed)[4] 0.3164±0.0387[7] 0.351±0.056[6] | |
| SMASS =S[3][4] | |
| 12.3[1][3][4][7] 12.62[8] | |
2056 Nancy (provisional designation1909 TB) is a stony backgroundasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1909, by German astronomerJoseph Helffrich atHeidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany.[1] TheS-type asteroid has a tentativerotation period of 15.0 hours.[4] It was named for Nancy Marsden, wife of British astronomerBrian G. Marsden.[2]
Nancy is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population. It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,206 days;semi-major axis of 2.22 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.14 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The asteroid'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in October 1909.[1]
Thisminor planet was named after Nancy Lou Zissell Marsden, wife of British astronomerBrian G. Marsden, who established the asteroid's identification, and after whom another minor planet,1877 Marsden, was previously named.[2] The officialnaming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 April 1978 (M.P.C. 4359).[9]
Nancy is a commonS-type asteroid in theSMASS classification.[3]
As of 2018, only a single fragmentarylightcurve of Nancy has been obtained fromphotometric observation. Analysis of the rotational lightcurve gives aperiod of 15 hours with a brightness variation of 0.08magnitude (U=1).[4][a]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Nancy measures between 7.783 and 11.19 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.16 and 0.351.[6][7][8] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 10.30 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.3.[4]
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