| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 13 October 1982 |
| Designations | |
| (7866) Sicoli | |
Named after | Piero Sicoli (discoverer of minor planets)[2] |
| 1982 TK · 1954 CT 1959 OD | |
| main-belt · Nysa[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.01 yr (23,016 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9392AU |
| Perihelion | 1.9165 AU |
| 2.4279 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2106 |
| 3.78yr (1,382 days) | |
| 112.12° | |
| 0° 15m 37.8s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.4801° |
| 77.978° | |
| 253.20° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.604±0.199 km[4][5] 6.34 km(calculated)[3] |
| 0.21(assumed)[3] 0.2455±0.0504[5] 0.246±0.050[4] | |
| S[3] | |
| 13.28±0.28[6] · 13.3[1][3] · 13.4[5] | |
7866 Sicoli, provisional designation1982 TK, is a stony Nysaasteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 October 1982, by American astronomerEdward Bowell at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona.[7] The asteroid was named after Italian astronomerPiero Sicoli.[2]
Sicoli is a member of thestony subgroup of theNysa family, one of the smaller families in the main-belt, named after its namesake,44 Nysa. The body orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,382 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.21 and aninclination of 3° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The firstprecovery was taken atPalomar Mountain in 1954, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 28 years prior to its discovery.[7]
According to the survey carried out by NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Sicoli measures 6.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.246,[4][5] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo forstony asteroids of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 5.6 kilometers, based on an absolutemagnitude of 13.3.[3]
As of 2016, no rotationallightcurve has been obtained for this asteroid and itsrotation period and shape remain unknown.[1][3]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of Italian astronomerPiero Sicoli (born 1954), adiscoverer of minor planets and Observation Coordinator at theSormano Astronomical Observatory in northern Italy.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 28 July 1999 (M.P.C. 35488).[8]
