| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (3868) Mendoza | |
Named after | Eugenio Mendoza (Mexican astronomer)[2] |
| 4575 P-L · 1935 SA1 1952 HV3 · 1953 TD2 1977 KD1 | |
| main-belt · Vesta[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.81 yr (22,941 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.5649AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1032 AU |
| 2.3341 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0989 |
| 3.57yr (1,302 days) | |
| 353.29° | |
| 0° 16m 35.04s / day | |
| Inclination | 8.1076° |
| 171.57° | |
| 186.20° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[4][5][6] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 8.628±0.157 km[7] 6.37±0.27 km[8] 9.351±0.049 km[9] 9.396 km[10] 9.40 km(taken)[3] |
| 2.77082±0.00005h[4] 2.77090±0.00005 h[5] 2.77099±0.00002 h[3] 2.77103±0.00003 h[11] | |
| 0.1621±0.0288[9] 0.1649[10] 0.218±0.032[7] 0.436±0.076[8] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.30±0.04(R)[5] · 12.30±0.02(R)[4] 12.5[1][8] · 12.6[1] · 12.70±0.37[12] · 12.71±0.04[3][10] · 12.75[9] | |
3868 Mendoza, provisional designation4575 P-L is a stony Vestianasteroid andbinary system from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by astronomersCornelis Johannes van Houten,Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld andTom Gehrels atPalomar Observatory.[13]
Mendoza orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,302 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 8° with respect to theecliptic.[1]
In 2009, aminor-planet moon was discovered. The satellite measures2.01±0.18 km in diameter and orbitsMendoza in a little more than a day.[4][5][6]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands forPalomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory andLeiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar'sSamuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped thephotographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory whereastrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery ofseveral thousand asteroid discoveries.[14]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Mendoza measures between 8.628 and 9.351 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo between 0.1621 and 0.436.[7][8][9] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adoptsPetr Pravec's revised WISE data, that is, an albedo of 0.1649 and a rounded diameter of 9.40 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.71.[3][10]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of Mexican astronomerEugenio Mendoza (born 1928), expert in photometry and spectroscopy, member of theIAU and teacher at several Mexican universities.[2][15] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22499).[16]
