| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 7 October 1986 |
| Designations | |
| (3850) Peltier | |
Named after | Leslie Peltier (American amateur astronomer)[2] |
| 1986 TK2 · 1949 PC 1969 OC1 · 1979 OX13 1982 OW | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 47.47 yr (17,339 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5967AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8718 AU |
| 2.2342 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1622 |
| 3.34yr (1,220 days) | |
| 126.84° | |
| 0° 17m 42.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.2687° |
| 124.13° | |
| 207.30° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.00 km(calculated)[3] |
| 2.4287±0.0002h[a] 2.4289±0.0001 h[4] | |
| 0.4(assumed)[3] | |
| SMASS = V[1] · V[3] | |
| 13.6[1][3] · 13.62±0.37[5] | |
3850 Peltier, provisional designation1986 TK2, is a Florianasteroid and suspected interloper from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 October 1986, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station, near Flagstaff, Arizona.[6] The asteroid was named after American amateur astronomerLeslie Peltier.[2]
In theSMASS taxonomy,Peltier is aV-type asteroid but possesses the orbital characteristics of a member of theFlora family, which is one of the largest groups of stonyS-type asteroids in the main-belt. It is therefore thought to be an unrelated interloper that does not origin from the Flora family's parent body.Peltier orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,220 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.16 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1] In 1949, it was first identified as1949 PC atJohannesburg. The body'sobservation arc begins atCrimea-Nauchnij in 1979, when it was identified as1979 OX13, 10 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[6]
A rotationallightcurve ofPeltier was obtained by Czech astronomerPetr Pravec atOndřejov Observatory in October 2006.[b] Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 2.4287 hours with a brightness variation of 0.09magnitude (U=2).[a] In December 2013, photometric observations by Australian amateur astronomer Julian Oey gave a concurring period of 2.4289 hours and an amplitude of 0.10 magnitude (U=3).[4]
Peltier has not been observed by any space-based surveys such as the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS, the JapaneseAkari satellite, or NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission. TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for V-type asteroids of 0.40 and calculates a diameter of 4.00 kilometers using anabsolute magnitude of 13.6.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in memory of American amateur astronomerLeslie Peltier (1900–1980), who has discovered 12 comets and several novae including Nova Herculis 1963.[2] Naming citation was provided byDavid H. Levy and published by theMPC on 20 May 1989 (M.P.C. 14633).[7]
