.png) Lightcurve-based 3D-model ofSagan | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 21 March 1982 |
| Designations | |
| (2709) Sagan | |
Named after | Carl Sagan(astronomer andscience communicator)[2] |
| 1982 FH · 1951 WF1 1959 CC · 1959 EA1 1964 WT · 1982 FE2 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 58.15 yr (21,239 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.3475AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0428 AU |
| 2.1952 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0694 |
| 3.25yr (1,188 days) | |
| 319.11° | |
| 0° 18m 10.8s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.7318° |
| 241.13° | |
| 308.48° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.559±0.196 km[4] 6.81 km(calculated)[3] |
| 5.254±0.001h[5] 5.2557±0.0002 h[a] 5.2564±0.0007 h[b] 5.258±0.002 h[6] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.259±0.043[4] | |
| SMASS =S[1] · S[3] | |
| 12.13±1.03[7] · 13.0[1][3][4] | |
2709 Sagan, provisional designation1982 FH, is a stony Florianasteroid from theinner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6.7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 March 1982, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff,Arizona, and named afterastronomer andscience popularizerCarl Sagan.[2][8]
Sagan is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest families of stony asteroids. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.3 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,188 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.07 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
In theSMASS classification,Sagan is classified as aS-type asteroid.[1] It has analbedo of 0.26, according to observations made by theWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and subsequentNEOWISE mission.[4] The body has arotation period between 5.254 and 5.258 hours and a brightness variation between 0.09 and 0.63magnitude (U=3/3/3/3).[5][6][a][b]
Thisminor planet was named in honor ofCarl Sagan (1934–1996), planetary scientist atCornell University, science popularizer, editor of the journalIcarus, and founder ofThe Planetary Society. Sagan participated on a number of planetary space missions, including theVoyager mission to the outer planets and theMariner 9 andViking program toMars.
Sagan's research encompassed studies of the greenhouse effect onVenus, the atmosphere and surface ofTitan, windblown dust on Mars, and the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life. Sagan won thePulitzer Prize for literature in 1978.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 4 August 1982 (M.P.C. 7158).[9]
An asteroid discovered in 1998,4970 Druyan, is named after Sagan's wifeAnn Druyan and is said to be in a "wedding ring orbit" with respect to 2709 Sagan.[10]
[...] asteroids named after each of us that are in perpetual wedding ring orbit around the Sun. Imagine one orbit. And then imagine that the orbit of the other asteroid goes in and out of the other's orbit. So, if you had two wedding rings that were linked together, that's a wedding ring orbit.
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