| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Smirnova |
| Discovery site | Crimean Astrophysical Obs. |
| Discovery date | 4 March 1975 |
| Designations | |
| (4185) Phystech | |
Named after | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology[1] |
| 1975 ED · 1982 KD 1982 KH4 · 1988 BT | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) background[3][4] · Flora[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 64.48yr (23,550 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.4339AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0008 AU |
| 2.2174 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0977 |
| 3.30 yr (1,206 d) | |
| 311.69° | |
| 0° 17m 54.6s / day | |
| Inclination | 2.2303° |
| 265.78° | |
| 320.99° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 5.93 km(calculated)[5] | |
| 4.66883±0.00014 h[6] 4.66904±0.00003 h[6] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[5] | |
| S(assumed)[5] | |
| 13.3[2][5] | |
4185 Phystech, provisional designation1975 ED, is a Florian or backgroundasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 March 1975, by Soviet astronomerTamara Smirnova at theCrimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula.[1] The presumedS-type asteroid has arotation period of 4.67 hours. It is named in honor of theMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology ("PhysTech") on its 50th anniversary.[1]
Phystech is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[3][4] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[5]
It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,206 days;semi-major axis of 2.22 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.10 and aninclination of 2° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in October 1953, more than 21 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnij.[1]
Phystech is an assumed stonyS-type asteroid, based on its family classification.[5]
In March and April 2008, two rotationallightcurves ofPhystech were obtained fromphotometric observations by American astronomers atLPL andCalvin College (H62). Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of 4.66883 and 4.66904 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.53 and 0.41magnitude, respectively (U=3/3).[6]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes analbedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the parent body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 5.93 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.3.[5]
Thisminor planet was named after theMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology (informally: "PhysTech"; Физтех) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 1996, based on a proposal by theInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy (ITA) inSaint Petersburg, Russia.[1] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 22 February 1997 (M.P.C. 29143).[7]
