| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | B. A. Skiff |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 31 August 1984 |
| Designations | |
| (4150) Starr | |
Named after | Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr,The Beatles)[2] |
| 1984 QC1 · 1957 KG 1964 RH · 1973 FD2 1974 QM1 · 1980 EA2 1981 TO2 · 1981 WE6 1981 WJ3 · 1988 YC 2004 SL12 | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 60.02 yr (21,922 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.6034AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8620 AU |
| 2.2327 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1660 |
| 3.34yr (1,219 days) | |
| 332.80° | |
| 0° 17m 43.44s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.1948° |
| 122.92° | |
| 197.41° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.641±0.032[4] 6.903±0.050 km[5] 7.47 km(calculated)[3] |
| 4.5179±0.0005 h[6][a] 6.8 h[7] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[3] 0.2584±0.0469[5] 0.277±0.023[4] | |
| S[3][8] | |
| 12.50±0.48[8] · 12.8[1][3] · 12.9[5] | |
4150 Starr, provisional designation1984 QC1, is a stony Florianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomerBrian Skiff at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station on 31 August 1984.[9] It was named after musicianRingo Starr.[2]
Starr is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,219 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The first observation was made at the U.S.Goethe Link Observatory in 1957, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 27 years prior to its discovery.[9]
Starr has been characterized as a commonS-type asteroid byPanSTARRS' photometric survey.[3][8]
According to the space-based survey by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Starr measures 6.6 and 6.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.258 and 0.277, respectively,[4][5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 7.5 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.8.[3]
Several rotationallightcurves ofStarr were obtained fromphotometric observations. An unpublished lightcurve by Kryszczynska from November 2011, has been rated best by CALL.[3] It gave arotation period of4.5179±0.0005 hours and a brightness variation of 0.20 inmagnitude (U=3).[a]
Thisminor planet was named afterRichard Starkey (born 1940), better known as Ringo Starr, the drummer ofThe Beatles. He joined the English rock band in 1962, replacing its former drummerPete Best. Ringo has releasedvarious albums in his solo career and also acted inseveral movies.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 10 April 1990 (M.P.C. 16248).[10] The minor planets8749 Beatles,4147 Lennon,4148 McCartney and4149 Harrison were named after the band and its three other members.
