| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 22 August 1985 |
| Designations | |
| (3673) Levy | |
Named after | David H. Levy(Canadian astronomer)[2] |
| 1985 QS · 1969 ER 1978 SW5 · 1978 WN | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 47.32 yr (17,284 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7791AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9108 AU |
| 2.3450 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1851 |
| 3.59yr (1,312 days) | |
| 280.30° | |
| 0° 16m 28.2s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.0907° |
| 13.369° | |
| 45.035° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[a] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.80±0.20 km[4] 6.412±0.159 km[5][6] 6.468 km[7] 6.47 km(taken)[3] |
| 2.68748±0.00007h[b] 2.6879±0.0005 h[8] | |
| 0.2341[7] 0.2472±0.0325[5][6] 0.398±0.035[4] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.65±0.06(R)[b] · 12.80[4] · 12.9[1] · 13.1[5] · 13.14±0.078[3][7] · 13.30±0.31[9] | |
3673 Levy, provisional designation1985 QS, is abinary[a] Floraasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 August 1985, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[10] The asteroid was named after Canadian astronomerDavid H. Levy.[2]
TheS-type asteroid is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt.Levy orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,312 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.19 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[1] It was first identified as "1969 ER" atCrimea–Nauchnij in 1969, extending itsobservation arc by 16 years prior to the official discovery observation.[10]
In December 2007, astronomers from the U.S.Carbuncle Hill Observatory (I00) in Rhode Island, the CzechOndřejov Observatory, and the CalifornianGoat Mountain Astronomical Research Station (G79) obtained a rotationallightcurve showingLevy toturn on its axis every 2.688 hours. The low brightness variation of 0.13magnitude indicates that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape (U=3).[b][11] During the photometric observations, it was also discovered thatLevy is abinary asteroid, orbited every 21.67 hours by asatellite, which approximately measures28±3 % ofLevy's diameter (1.8 kilometer).[8][11][a][b]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Levy measures between 5.80 and 6.47 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.234 and 0.398.[4][5][6][7] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the revised WISE-results by Pravec and adopts an albedo of 0.2341 and a diameter of 6.47 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 13.14.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of Canadian astronomerDavid H. Levy (b. 1948), adiscoverer of minor planets andcomets and a highly committed observer, who uses a large repertoire of observational techniques. He is also an educator and author, known for his biographies of astronomers and for his launched educational programs, bringingobservational astronomy to the broader public.[2] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 2 April 1988 (M.P.C. 12974).[12]
He is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. He has discovered 22 comets, nine of them using his own backyard telescopes. With Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California he discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. That episode produced the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed in theSolar System. Levy is currently involved with the Jarnac Comet Survey, which is based at theJarnac Observatory (G92) in Vail, Arizona, but which has telescopes planned for locations around the world.[11]
