| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (5756) Wassenbergh | |
Named after | Henri Wassenbergh[1] (Dutch professor of law) |
| 6034 P-L · 1985 TG1 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (middle) Rafita[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 57.59yr (21,033 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.1634AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0018 AU |
| 2.5826 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2249 |
| 4.15 yr (1,516 d) | |
| 319.93° | |
| 0° 14m 15s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.6000° |
| 198.00° | |
| 144.05° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 3.930±0.134 km[4] | |
| 0.262±0.057[4] | |
| L(SDSS-MOC)[5] | |
| 14.1[1][2] | |
5756 Wassenbergh, provisional designation6034 P-L, is a Rafitaasteroid from the central regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer coupleIngrid andCornelis van Houten on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomerTom Gehrels at thePalomar Observatory in California, United States.[1] The asteroid was named after Dutch professor of law,Henri Wassenbergh.[1]
Wassenbergh is a member of theRafita family (518),[3] a largefamily of stony asteroid, named after1644 Rafita.[6] It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 2 months (1,516 days;semi-major axis of 2.58 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.22 and aninclination of 8° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar in 1960.[1]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands for "Palomar–Leiden", named afterPalomar andLeiden observatories, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Tom 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.[7]
Wassenbergh has been characterized as anL-type asteroid by theSDSS-taxonomy based on the Moving Object Catalog (MOC).[5] The Rafita family's overallspectral type is that of a stonyS-type.[6]: 23 The asteroid has anabsolute magnitude of 14.1.[1][2] As of 2018, no rotationallightcurve has been obtained fromphotometric observations. The body'srotation period,pole and shape remain unknown.[2]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Wassenbergh measures 3.930 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.262.[4]
Thisminor planet was named afterHenri Wassenbergh (1924–2014), who was Professor of Air and Space Law atUniversity of Leiden in theNetherlands from 1977 through 1994. The name was suggested by Prof. Wassenbergh's secretary and his colleagues at Leiden. The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 19 October 1994 (M.P.C. 24123).[8] The naming was timed to coincide with his valedictory address at the university.
He had been Professor Extraordinarius of Air and Space Law at Leiden since 1977, and Professor Ordinarius since 1991.[9] Wassenbergh, known to his friends and colleagues as "Or" Wassenbergh, is a Dutch academic and for many years, he was an official ofRoyal Dutch Airlines (KLM).[1] Since 1967, he had been a member of the Air Transport Commission of theInternational Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Wassenbergh also participated in the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) of theEuropean Space Agency (ESA), the International Institute of Space Law of theInternational Astronautical Federation, theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) Air Policy Advisory Group, theSociété Française de Droit Aérien, the Netherlands branch of the Legal Committee of theInternational Civil Aviation Organization, and the Netherlands Interdepartmental Committee on Civil Aviation.[9] In this context, the title of one of his books seems prescient --Principles of Outer Space Law in Hindsight.[10]
