_TARDIS.png) Shape model of TARDIS from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Skiff |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 3 May 1984 |
| Designations | |
| (3325) TARDIS | |
Named after | TARDIS (fictional time machine)[2] |
| 1984 JZ · 1958 VB1 1969 TP3 · 1975 VC8 1975 WF1 | |
| main-belt[1] · (outer) Alauda[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 58.56 yr (21,390 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.2299AU |
| Perihelion | 3.1397 AU |
| 3.1848 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0142 |
| 5.68yr (2,076 days) | |
| 45.895° | |
| 0° 10m 24.24s / day | |
| Inclination | 22.221° |
| 46.246° | |
| 86.099° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 28.238±0.469 km[4] 29.66±1.2 km(IRAS:9)[5] | |
| 0.0553±0.005(IRAS:9)[5] 0.067±0.010[4] | |
| 11.5[1] | |
3325 TARDIS (provisional designation:1984 JZ) is a dark Alaudaasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 29 kilometers (18 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 3 May 1984, by American astronomerBrian Skiff at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station, Arizona, in the United States.[6] The asteroid was namedTARDIS, after the fictional time machine and spacecraft from the science fiction television seriesDoctor Who.[2]
TARDIS is a member of theAlauda family (902),[3] a largefamily of typically bright carbonaceous asteroids and named after its parent body,702 Alauda.[7]: 23
It orbits the Sun in theouter main-belt at a distance of 3.1–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,076 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.01 and aninclination of 22° with respect to theecliptic.[1] In 1958 it was first identified as1958 VB1 at theGoethe Link Observatory, extending the body'sobservation arc by 26 years prior to its official discovery at Anderson Mesa.[6]
It is named after the acronymTARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space), the space andtime travel vehicle used bythe Doctor in the Britishscience fiction television seriesDoctor Who. The fictional time machine looks like a police telephone box from mid-twentieth century Britain.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 11 March 1990 (M.P.C. 16041).[8]
According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS and NASA'sNEOWISE mission, TARDIS measures 28.2 and 29.7 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a lowalbedo of 0.055 and 0.067, respectively.[4][5] An albedo between 0.05 and 0.06 is typical forcarbonaceous asteroids of the outer main-belt. As of 2016, no rotationallightcurves have been obtained and the asteroid'speriod and shape still remains unknown.
