| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Y. Väisälä |
| Discovery site | Turku Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 April 1940 |
| Designations | |
| (3099) Hergenrother | |
Named after | Carl Hergenrother (American astronomer)[2] |
| 1940 GF · 1969 EF1 1972 VV · 1979 KE 1980 NT · 1984 HB 1984 JG | |
| main-belt · (outer)[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 76.96 yr (28,111 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.4563AU |
| Perihelion | 2.3048 AU |
| 2.8805 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1999 |
| 4.89yr (1,786 days) | |
| 309.42° | |
| 0° 12m 5.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 15.496° |
| 31.100° | |
| 148.52° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 14.732±0.110 km[4][5] 29.21 km(calculated)[3] |
| 24.266±0.007h[6] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[3] 0.224±0.016[4][5] | |
| C[3] | |
| 11.4[1][3][4] | |
3099 Hergenrother, provisional designation1940 GF, is anasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 April 1940, by Finnish astronomerYrjö Väisälä atTurku Observatory in Southwest Finland,[7] and named after American astronomerCarl Hergenrother in 1996.[2]
Hergenrother orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 2.3–3.5 AU once every 4 years and 11 months (1,786 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.20 and aninclination of 15° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins 6 days after its official discovery observation at Turku.[7]
In January 2008, a rotationallightcurve ofHergenrother was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomerPierre Antonini. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 24.266 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28magnitude (U=2).[6]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Hergenrother measures 14.73 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.224,[4][5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo forcarbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and consequently calculates a diameter of 29.21 kilometers, as the lower the albedo, the larger the body's diameter at a certainabsolute magnitude.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of American astronomerCarl W. Hergenrother (born 1973). AtLunar and Planetary Laboratory, he has been adiscoverer of minor planets with high inclinations during theBigelow Sky Survey, precursor to the Catalina Sky Survey. The naming was proposed byMPC directorBrian G. Marsden among others.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 3 May 1996 (M.P.C. 27124).[8]
