| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 25 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (2934) Aristophanes | |
| Pronunciation | /ˌærɪˈstɒfəniːz/[2] |
Named after | ἈριστοφάνηςAristophanēs[3] (ancient Greek dramatist) |
| 4006 P-L · 1971 OQ1 1977 RM5 · 1980 FC9 | |
| main-belt · (outer) Veritas[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 56.24 yr (20,543 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.3326AU |
| Perihelion | 3.0085 AU |
| 3.1705 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0511 |
| 5.65yr (2,062 days) | |
| 99.361° | |
| 0° 10m 28.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 8.7965° |
| 202.23° | |
| 89.870° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 21.941±0.390 km[5] |
| 0.110±0.006[5] | |
| SMASS = Ch[1] | |
| 11.7[1] | |
2934 Aristophanes/ˌærɪˈstɒfəniːz/, provisional designation4006 P-L, is a carbonaceous Veritasianasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during thePalomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and later named after ancient Greek dramatistAristophanes.
Aristophanes was discovered on 25 September 1960, by Dutch astronomersIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken byTom Gehrels at thePalomar Observatory, California, United States.[6]
Thesurvey designationP-L stands for "Palomar–Leiden", named after Palomar Observatory andLeiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar'sSamuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped thephotographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory whereastrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery ofseveral thousand asteroids.[7]
Aristophanes is a member of theVeritas family (609),[4] a youngfamily of carbonaceous asteroids, that formed approximately8.5±0.5 million years ago. The family is named after490 Veritas and consists of nearly 1,300 members.[8]: 8, 23
It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,062 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.05 and aninclination of 9° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins at Palomar, the night prior to its official discovery observation.[6]
In theSMASS classification,Aristophanes is a Ch-type,[1] a hydrated subtype of the carbonaceousC-type asteroid with absorption features at 0.7 μm.[9]
As of 2017, no rotationallightcurve ofAristophanes has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid'srotation period, shape and poles remain unknown.[1][10]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Aristophanes measures 21.941 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.110.[5]
Thisminor planet was named afterAristophanes (445–385 B.C.), a Greek comic playwright of ancient Athens.[3] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 29 September 1985 (M.P.C. 10044).[11]
