| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 15 September 1972 |
| Designations | |
| (5040) Rabinowitz | |
Named after | David Rabinowitz (American astronomer)[2] |
| 1972 RF · 1987 QE | |
| main-belt · Phocaea[3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 46.20 yr (16,874 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9644AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8705 AU |
| 2.4174 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2263 |
| 3.76yr (1,373 days) | |
| 7.0892° | |
| 0° 15m 43.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 24.361° |
| 175.69° | |
| 149.71° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 6.41 km(calculated)[3] |
| 4.472±0.001h[5] 4.6901±0.0004 h[a] 4.691±0.001 h[6] | |
| 0.23(assumed)[3] | |
| S[3] | |
| 12.73±0.13(R)[a] · 12.9[1] · 13.15±0.35[7] · 13.18[3] | |
5040 Rabinowitz, provisional designation1972 RF, is a stony Phocaeaasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Dutch–American astronomerTom Gehrels atPalomar Observatory on 15 September 1972.[8] Contrary to most of his discoveries, this asteroid is unrelated to thePalomar–Leiden survey and exclusively credited to Tom Gehrels.
The stonyS-type asteroid is a member of thePhocaea family (701), a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, named after its largest member,25 Phocaea.[4] It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,373 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.23 and aninclination of 24° with respect to theecliptic.[1] A firstprecovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1971, extending the body'sobservation arc by one year prior to its official discovery observation.[8]
In July 2013, a rotationallightcurve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations by Czech astronomerPetr Pravec at theOndřejov Observatory. The well-defined lightcurve gave arotation period of4.6901±0.0004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.33 inmagnitude (U=3).[a]
During the same opposition opportunity, two more lightcurves – obtained byRobert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies and by Maurice Clark at the Preston Gott Observatory – gave a similar period of4.691 and4.472 hours, with an amplitude of 0.35 and 0.31 in magnitude, respectively (U=3-/2+).[5][6]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23, derived from the Phocaea family's namesake, and calculates a diameter of 6.4 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 13.18.[3]
Thisminor planet was named after American astronomerDavid Rabinowitz (born 1960), adiscoverer of minor planets himself and researcher atYale University. The naming also honors his work for theSpacewatch program.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22505).[9]
