| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 24 September 1960 |
| Designations | |
| (7687) Matthias | |
Named after | Matthias Busch[1] (German amateur astronomer) |
| 2099 P-L · 1986 EH2 1993 GK | |
| main-belt[1][2] · (inner) Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.75yr (23,284 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.5327AU |
| Perihelion | 2.0074 AU |
| 2.2700 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1157 |
| 3.42 yr (1,249 d) | |
| 131.81° | |
| 0° 17m 17.52s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.7774° |
| 199.13° | |
| 333.08° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 3.488±0.233 km[4] 3.9 km(est. at0.24)[5] | |
| 0.24(Flora albedo)[5] 0.333±0.070[4] | |
| S(SDSS-MOC)[6] | |
| 14.2[1][2] | |
7687 Matthias, provisional designation2099 P-L, is a stonyFlorian asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers (2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, byIngrid andCornelis van Houten at Leiden, andTom Gehrels atPalomar Observatory in California. TheS-type asteroid was named for German amateur astronomerMatthias Busch.[1]
Matthias is a member of theFlora family (402),[3] a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[7] It orbits the Sun in theinner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,249 days;semi-major axis of 2.27 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.12 and aninclination of 6° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with aprecovery taken at Palomar in October 1953, or seven years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]
Thesurvey designation "P-L" stands for "Palomar–Leiden", named after Palomar Observatory andLeiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitfulPalomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. 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.[8]
In theSDSS-based taxonomy,Matthias is a common, stonyS-type asteroid.[6] It has anabsolute magnitude of 14.2.[1][2] As of 2018, no rotationallightcurve ofMatthias 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,Matthias measures 3.488 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.333.[4] Alternatively, the asteroid measures 3.9 kilometers, based on a generic magnitude-to-diameter conversion with an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, theparent body of the Flora family.[5]
Thisminor planet was named after German amateur astronomerMatthias Busch (born 1968), an observer anddiscoverer of minor planets at theStarkenburg Observatory in Heppenheim, Germany. The asteroid's name was proposed byLutz Schmadel and its official citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 8 December 1998 (M.P.C. 33387).[9]
