 Kennedy imaged byLONEOS in October 2004 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 15 October 1985 |
| Designations | |
| (7166) Kennedy | |
Named after | Malcolm Kennedy[2] (Astronomical Society of Glasgow) |
| 1985 TR · 1976 JA10 1991 HC5 · 1992 OZ8 | |
| main-belt · (inner) Nysa[3] · background[4] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 62.93 yr (22,986 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.7579AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1036 AU |
| 2.4307 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1346 |
| 3.79yr (1,384 days) | |
| 105.04° | |
| 0° 15m 36.36s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.7053° |
| 14.082° | |
| 64.060° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.42 km(calculated)[3] 5.129±0.149 km[5][6] |
| 3.659±0.0011h[7] | |
| 0.21(assumed)[3] 0.267±0.048[5][6] | |
| S[3][8] | |
| 13.5[6] · 13.633±0.003(R)[7] · 13.8[1] · 14.06±0.23[8] · 14.08[3] | |
7166 Kennedy, provisional designation1985 TR, is a stony Nysianasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1985, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States.[9] The asteroid was named after Malcolm Kennedy of theAstronomical Society of Glasgow.[2]
Kennedy is a member of theNysa family (405), the largestasteroid family of the main belt, consisting of stony and carbonaceous subfamilies. The family, named after44 Nysa, is located in the inner belt near theKirkwood gap (3:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter), a depleted zone that separates the central main belt.[3] It is, however, a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4]
It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,384 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.13 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken atPalomar Observatory in June 1954, more than 31 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[9]
Kennedy has been characterized as a common stonyS-type asteroid byPanSTARRS photometric survey.[8]
In December 2012, a rotationallightcurve ofKennedy was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of 3.659 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.52magnitude (U=2).[7]
According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,Kennedy measures 5.129 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.267,[5][6] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 4.42 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 14.08.[3]
Thisminor planet was named in memory of Malcolm Kennedy (1944–1997), secretary of theAstronomical Society of Glasgow. He was born and raised in New Zealand and became a civil engineer in Scotland.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 8 August 1998 (M.P.C. 32348).[10]
