_Andr%25C3%25A9seloy.png) Shape model ofRoberts from itslightcurve | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | S. Ueda H. Kaneda |
| Discovery site | Kushiro Obs. (399) |
| Discovery date | 30 December 1991 |
| Designations | |
| (6159) Andréseloy | |
Named after | Andrés Eloy Martínez (Mexican astronomer)[1] |
| 1991 YH · 1987 UY4 1990 OZ1 · 1990 SB17 | |
| main-belt[1][2] · Vesta[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 29.62 yr (10,819 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.4341AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1482 AU |
| 2.2912 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0624 |
| 3.47yr (1,267 days) | |
| 173.81° | |
| 0° 17m 3.12s / day | |
| Inclination | 6.8577° |
| 30.291° | |
| 56.793° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 5.263±0.033 km[4][5] | |
| 10.639±0.005 h[6] 10.6590±0.0005 h[7] | |
| 0.484±0.055[4][5] | |
| S(assumed)[8] | |
| 12.8[4] · 13.5[1][2][8] | |
6159 Andréseloy (prov. designation:1991 YH) is aVesta asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 5.3 kilometers (3.3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 30 December 1991, by Japanese astronomersSeiji Ueda andHiroshi Kaneda at Kushiro Observatory (399) on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It was named after Mexican astronomerAndrés Eloy Martínez.[1]
Andréseloy is an attributed member of theVesta family,[3] one of the largest collisional populations of stony asteroids in the asteroid belt. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU (semi-major axis of 2.29 AU) once every 3 years and 6 months (1,267 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.06 and aninclination of 7° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The asteroid was first observed as1987 UY4 atCrimea–Nauchnij in 1987, extending the body'sobservation arc by 4 years prior to its official discovery observation at Kushiro.[1]
Thisminor planet was named in honor ofAndrés Eloy Martínez, Mexican astronomer andcitizen scientist. He is known in his country for the adaptation of the novelThe War of the Worlds. He likes to create scientific videos for the Internet. His main concerns areglobal warming and the impact of an asteroid on Earth.[9]
The name was suggested by the Urania Astronomical Society (Spanish:Sociedad Astronomica Urania) of Mexico. This society was a winner of theNameExoWorlds contest organised byInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2015, and was also awarded the naming right for this asteroid. In total, the naming of 17 minor planets such as6117 Brevardastro was granted as an award to the contest's winners.[10] Theofficial naming citation was approved by the IAU'sCommittee on Small Body Nomenclature and published by theMinor Planet Center on 12 February 2017 (M.P.C. 103029).[11]
Andréseloy has been characterized as a commonS-type asteroid.[8]
In March 2006, a rotationallightcurve ofAndréseloy was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomerBrian Warner at this Palmer Divide Observatory (716), Colorado. Lightcurve analysis gave an averagerotation period of 10.639 hours with a brightness variation of 0.78magnitude (U=3).[6] Such a high brightness amplitude typically indicates that the body has a non-spheroidal shape.
In 2013, an international study modeled a lightcurve with a concurring period of 10.6590 hours and found aspin axis of (266.0°, 67.0°) and (62.0°, 67.0°) inecliptic coordinates (λ, β) (Q=2).[7]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Andréseloy measures 5.263 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a highalbedo of 0.484.[4][5] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its family – and calculates a diameter of 5.41 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 13.5.[8]
