| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 28 March 1982 |
| Designations | |
| (2873) Binzel | |
Named after | Richard Binzel (American astronomer)[2] |
| 1982 FR · 1935 KH 1935 MH · 1938 GA 1959 RA1 | |
| main-belt · (inner) Flora[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 81.27 yr (29,683 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.6074AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8954 AU |
| 2.2514 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1581 |
| 3.38yr (1,234 days) | |
| 112.97° | |
| 0° 17m 30.48s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.9003° |
| 100.97° | |
| 168.33° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[5] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.426±0.471 km[6] 6.48 km(calculated)[3] 7.011±0.063 km[7] |
| 11.560±0.0037h[8] | |
| 0.2307±0.0722[7] 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.272±0.060[6] | |
| SMASS = Sq[1] · S[3] | |
| 12.660±0.002(R)[8] · 12.99[1][7] · 13.10±0.41[9] · 13.11[3] | |
2873 Binzel, provisional designation1982 FR, is a stony Florianasteroid andbinary system from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 March 1982, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at theAnderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona.[10] The asteroid was named after astronomerRichard Binzel.[2] Its 1.6-kilometerminor-planet moon was discovered in 2019.[5]
Binzel is a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[3][4][11]: 23 It orbits the Sun in theinner main belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,234 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.16 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The body'sobservation arc begins with its identification as1935 KH at theJohannesburg Observatory in 1935, almost 47 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[10]
In theSMASS classification,Binzel is a Sq-subtype, which transition from the common stonyS-type asteroids to the less commonQ-types.[1]
In September 2010, a rotationallightcurve ofBinzel was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 11.560 hours with a brightness variation of 0.14magnitude (U=2).[8]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Binzel measures 6.426 and 7.011 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.2307 and 0.272, respectively.[6][7]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 6.48 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.11.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after American astronomerRichard Binzel (born 1958) of the University of Texas at Austin. During the 1980s, Binzel has been a prolific photometrist, obtaining a large number of rotationallightcurves of main-belt asteroids. The official naming citation was prepared by Alan W. Harris and published by theMinor Planet Center on 8 November 1984 (M.P.C. 9215).[2][12]
