_Guinevere.png) Shape model ofGuinevere from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | M. F. Wolf |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 17 August 1928 |
| Designations | |
| (2483) Guinevere | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡwɪnɪvɪər/ |
Named after | Guinevere (Arthurian legend)[2] |
| 1928 QB · 1929 VR 1955 FZ1 · 1961 VM 1961 XR · 1971 BM 1971 FN · 1977 XL A921 WF | |
| main-belt · (outer)[1] Hilda[3][4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 88.51 yr (32,327 days) |
| Aphelion | 5.0733AU |
| Perihelion | 2.8687 AU |
| 3.9710 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2776 |
| 7.91yr (2,890 days) | |
| 4.7663° | |
| 0° 7m 28.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.5000° |
| 252.04° | |
| 183.36° | |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.2309 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 35.687±0.180 km[6] 42.42±2.89 km[7] 44.14 km(derived)[5] 44.17±3.9 km[8] | |
| 14.730±0.002 h[9][a] 14.73081±0.00001 h[10] 14.733 h[11] | |
| 0.0396(derived)[5] 0.0433±0.009[8] 0.048±0.007[7] 0.067±0.011[6] | |
| C[5] | |
| 10.8[7][8] · 10.9[1][5] | |
2483 Guinevere/ˈɡwɪnɪvɪər/ is a dark and elongatedHilda asteroid from the outermost regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 43 kilometers (27 miles) in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 17 August 1928, by German astronomerMax Wolf atHeidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany and given theprovisional designation1928 QB.[3] In the 1980s, it was named after King Arthur's wifeGuinevere.[2]
Located in theoutermost part of the main-belt,Guinevere is a member of theHilda family, a large group of asteroids that are thought to have originated from theKuiper belt. They orbit in a 3:2orbital resonance with the gas giant Jupiter, meaning that for every 2 orbits Jupiter completes around the Sun, a Hildian asteroid will complete 3 orbits. Based on a numerical integration,Guinevere is the Hilda asteroid with the greatest chance ofimpacting with another asteroid.[4] About 74% of the impact risk occurs when Guinevere is relatively close to perihelion and approaches the main-belt asteroids.
Guinevere orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.9–5.1 AU once every 7 years and 11 months (2,890 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.28 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1] In November 1921, it was first identified asA921 WF atBergedorf Observatory in Hamburg, Germany. The body'sobservation arc begins two nights after its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in August 1928.[3]
Thisminor planet was named afterGuinevere, the wife ofKing Arthur and the lover ofLancelot inArthurian legend, after whom the minor planets(2041) and(2597) are named. This affair lead to civil war between King Arthur and his chief knight, who rescued Guinevere from burning at the stake, and initiated the downfall of Arthur's idyllic kingdom.[2] The name was suggested byFrederick Pilcher and the proposal was submitted byEdward Bowell, who also made the object's key identification.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 24 July 1983 (M.P.C. 8064).[12]
During a survey of Hilda asteroids in the 1990s, a rotationallightcurve ofGuinevere was obtained from photometric observations by an international collaboration of Swedish, German and Italian astronomers. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 14.733 hours with a brightness variation of 1.38magnitude (U=3).[11]Guinevere is a high-amplitude Hilda. A high brightness amplitude typically indicates that the body is elongated and has a non-spheroidal shape. Thermal emission measurements from theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) gave an even higher amplitude of 1.53 magnitude.[13]: 15, 24 In October 2016, another lightcurve ofGuinevere was obtained at the Center for Solar System Studies (CS3), Landers, in the Southern California desert, during a photometric survey conducted by American astronomers Dan Coley,Robert Stephens andBrian Warner (U80–U82). It showed a period of 14.730 hours with an amplitude of 0.89 magnitude (U=3-).[9][a]
A 2016-published lightcurve, using modeled photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database (LPD), gave a concurring period of 14.73081 hours (U=n.a.), as well as two spin axis of (19.0°, 70.0°) and (194.0°, 59.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β).[10]
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite, and theNEOWISE mission of NASA's WISE spacecraft,Guinevere measures between 35.687 and 44.17 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.0433 and 0.067.[6][7][8] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with IRAS and derives an albedo of 0.0396 and a diameter of 44.14 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 10.9.[5]
