| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | K. Reinmuth |
| Discovery site | Heidelberg Obs. |
| Discovery date | 26 October 1937 |
| Designations | |
| (3790) Raywilson | |
Named after | Raymond Wilson[1] (English physicist) |
| 1937 UE · 1976 SV1 1982 UC2 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (outer) Themis[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 80.42yr (29,372 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.6936AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6347 AU |
| 3.1642 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1673 |
| 5.63 yr (2,056 d) | |
| 102.45° | |
| 0° 10m 30.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 0.4756° |
| 320.35° | |
| 96.123° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 10.35±2.87 km[5] 12.94 km(calculated)[3] 14.028±0.229 km[5] | |
| 4.654±0.0007 h[6] 4.86 h[7] | |
| 0.052±0.020[5] 0.08(assumed)[3] 0.137±0.130[5] | |
| C[3][8] | |
| 12.70[5] 12.770±0.003(R)[6] 12.8[2][3] 13.00±0.18[8] | |
3790 Raywilson, provisional designation1937 UE, is a carbonaceous Themistianasteroid from the outer regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 26 October 1937, by astronomerKarl Reinmuth at theHeidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in Heidelberg, Germany.[1] TheC-type asteroid has arotation period of 4.65 hours.[3] It was named for English physicistRaymond Wilson.[1]
Raywilson is a Themistian asteroid that belongs to theThemis family (602),[3][4] a very largefamily of carbonaceous asteroids, named after its parent body,24 Themis.[9] For no good reason, it has also been considered a member of theEos family.[7]
It orbits the Sun in theouter asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,056 days;semi-major axis of 3.16 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 0° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins at Heidelberg, the night after its official discovery observation.[1]
Pan-STARRS' photometric survey has characterized it as a common, carbonaceousC-type asteroid, which is also the overallspectral type of the Themis family.[9]: 23
In October 2010, a rotationallightcurve ofRaywilson was obtained in the R-band fromphotometric observations by astronomers at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 4.654 hours with a brightness variation of 0.30magnitude (U=2).[6] A previous measurement by Brazilian astronomers gave a period of 4.86 hours and an amplitude of 0.31 magnitude (U=1).[7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Raywilson measures between 10.35 and 14.028 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.052 and 0.137,[5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 12.94 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 12.8.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after English physicistRaymond Wilson (1928–2018), who was an astronomical optician and pioneer ofactive optics at ESO'sLa Silla Observatory in the 1970s. The official naming citation was proposed byLutz Schmadel, endorsed by the Heidelberg Observatory, and published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22499).[10]
