_Bussolini.png) Shape model ofBussolini from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Felix Aguilar Obs. |
| Discovery site | El Leoncito Complex |
| Discovery date | 3 January 1976 |
| Designations | |
| (2490) Bussolini | |
Named after | Juan Bussolini (Argentine Jesuit physicist)[2] |
| 1976 AG · 1962 WN2 1977 KK · 1978 NT3 1978 QH | |
| main-belt · Eunomia[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 67.13 yr (24,519 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9567AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2617 AU |
| 2.6092 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1332 |
| 4.21yr (1,539 days) | |
| 9.8678° | |
| 0° 14m 2.04s / day | |
| Inclination | 12.964° |
| 212.60° | |
| 210.46° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 11.725±0.081 km[4] 12.707±0.170 km[5] 12.09 km(calculated)[3] | |
| 24 h[6] | |
| 0.1918±0.0207[5] 0.21(assumed)[3] 0.223±0.043[4] | |
| P[5] · S[3] | |
| 11.9[1][3][5] | |
2490 Bussolini (prov. designation:1976 AG) is anEunomia asteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 3 January 1976, by staff members of theFélix Aguilar Observatory atEl Leoncito Complex in Argentina.[7] The asteroid was named after Argentine Jesuit physicistJuan Bussolini.[2]
Bussolini is a member of theEunomia family, a large group of typically stony asteroids and the most prominent family in theintermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.3–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,539 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 13° with respect to theecliptic.[1] A firstprecovery was taken atPalomar Observatory in 1949, extending the body'sobservation arc by 27 years prior to its official discovery observation at El Leoncito.[7]
Thisminor planet was named in memory Argentine Jesuit and solar physicist Juan Antonio Bussolini (1905–1966), director of theObservatorio de Fisica Cosmica de San Miguel and a noted supporter of the Felix Aguilar Observatory.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Centeron 15 May 1984 (M.P.C. 8800).[8]
Eunomians are typicallyS-type asteroid.[3]Bussolini has also been characterized as aP-type asteroid by theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).[5]
In October 2008, a rotationallightcurve ofBussolini was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomerPierre Antonini. Analysis of the fragmentary lightcurve gave a somewhat longer than averagerotation period of 24 hours with a brightness variation of 0.1magnitude (U=1).[6] As of 2017, no improved period has been obtained.[3]
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's WISE observatory with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Bussolini measures 11.725 and 12.707 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.223 and 0.1918, respectively.[4][5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 – derived from15 Eunomia, thefamily's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 12.09 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 11.9.[3]
