| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 14 June 1980 |
| Designations | |
| (2937) Gibbs | |
Named after | Josiah Willard Gibbs[2] (American scientist) |
| 1980 LA | |
| Mars-crosser[1][3] · Phocaea[4][5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 36.75 yr (13,424 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0232AU |
| Perihelion | 1.6160 AU |
| 2.3196 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3033 |
| 3.53yr (1,290 days) | |
| 161.70° | |
| 0° 16m 44.4s / day | |
| Inclination | 21.758° |
| 265.72° | |
| 71.849° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.04±1.43 km[6] 5.99±1.20 km[7] 6.35 km(calculated)[4] |
| 3.06±0.05h[8] 3.06153±0.00006 h[8] 3.189±0.003 h[9][a] | |
| 0.23(assumed)[4] 0.283±0.113[7] 0.30±0.13[6] | |
| S[4] | |
| 13.10[7] · 13.2[1][4] · 13.42[6] | |
2937 Gibbs, provisional designation1980 LA, is a stony Phocaeaasteroid andMars-crosser from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 14 June 1980, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona.[3] The asteroid was named after American scientistJosiah Willard Gibbs.[2]
Gibbs is aMars-crossing asteroid, as it crosses the orbit of Mars at 1.666 AU.[1][3] It is also an eccentric member of thePhocaea family,[4][5] a largeasteroid family of stony asteroids in theinner main-belt.[10]: 23 Gibbs orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,290 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.30 and aninclination of 22° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
The asteroid'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa. No prior identifications were made and noprecoveries taken.[3]
Gibbs is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid, which agrees with the overallspectral type of the Phocaea family.[10]: 23
In 2005, two rotationallightcurves ofGibbs were obtained from photometric observations by Italian amateur astronomers Federico Manzini and Roberto Crippa. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 3.06 and 3.06153 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 and 0.39magnitude, respectively (U=2/3-).[8] In December 2016,Robert Stephens obtained a well-defined lightcurve at his Trojan Station (U81) that gave a period of 3.189 hours and an amplitude of 0.26 magnitude (U=3).[9][a]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Gibbs measures between 5.04 and 5.99 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.283 and 0.30,[6][7] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23 – derived from25 Phocaea, the Phocaea family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 6.35 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.2.[4]
Thisminor planet was named in memory of American mathematician and physicistJosiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903), who contributed to the studies of asteroids through his work on orbits.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 17 February 1984 (M.P.C. 8544).[11] The lunar craterGibbs was also named in his honor.[2]
