| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | H. Debehogne |
| Discovery site | La Silla Obs. |
| Discovery date | 12 February 1985 |
| Designations | |
| (6117) Brevardastro | |
Named after | Brevard Astronomical Society (Brevard County FL USA)[2] |
| 1985 CZ1 · 1979 OO5 | |
| main-belt · (inner) | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.66 yr (22,887 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.4998AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1866 AU |
| 2.3432 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0668 |
| 3.59yr (1,310 days) | |
| 80.283° | |
| 0° 16m 29.28s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.1246° |
| 305.56° | |
| 144.36° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.199±0.077 km[3] |
| 0.350±0.053[3] | |
| 13.3[1] | |
6117 Brevardastro, provisional designation1985 CZ1, is a stonyasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 12 February 1985, by Belgian astronomerHenri Debehogne atESO'sLa Silla site in northern Chile. It was later named for the AmericanBrevard Astronomical Society.[2]
Brevardastro orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,310 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.07 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[1] A firstprecovery was taken atPalomar Observatory in 1954, extending the body'sobservation arc by 31 years prior to its official discovery observation at La Silla.[2]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Brevardastro measures 5.199 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.350,[3] which is typical for stonyE-type asteroids. As of 2017, the asteroid'srotation period and shape remain unknown.[1][4]
Brevardastro is a contrived name that honors the Brevard Astronomical Society, a very active amateur astronomy community inBrevard County, located on the east coast of Florida, United States, which is known as the "space coast", where theKennedy Space Center andCape Canaveral are located and many of the early American space flights originated.[2]
This society was a winner of theNameExoWorlds contest organised byInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2015, and was also awarded the naming right for thisminor planet.[5] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 12 February 2017 (M.P.C. 103029) and approved by the IAU'sCommittee on Small Body Nomenclature.[6]
