 orbit | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 16 October 1977 |
| Designations | |
| (8441) Lapponica | |
| Pronunciation | /ləˈpɒnɪkə/ |
Named after | Bar-tailed godwit[2] (A shorebird) |
| 4008 T-3 · 1953 EC1 1989 LP | |
| main-belt[1][3] · (inner) background[4] · Flora[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 65.13yr (23,788 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.4945AU |
| Perihelion | 1.8857 AU |
| 2.1901 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1390 |
| 3.24 yr (1,184 d) | |
| 9.5854° | |
| 0° 18m 14.76s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.9910° |
| 97.923° | |
| 86.900° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 4.50 km(calculated)[5] | |
| 3.27±0.01 h[6] 3.275±0.001 h[7] | |
| 0.24(assumed)[5] | |
| L(Pan-STARRS)[8] L (SDSS-MOC)[9] S(assumed)[5] | |
| 13.9[1][3][5] 13.99±0.23[8] | |
8441 Lapponica, provisional designation4008 T-3, is a backgroundasteroid from the Florian region of the innerasteroid belt, approximately 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 16 October 1977, byIngrid andCornelis van Houten atLeiden, andTom Gehrels atPalomar Observatory in California.[1] TheL-type asteroid has arotation period of 3.27 hours.[5] It was named for theBar-tailed godwit, a shorebird also known by its Latin nameLimosa lapponica.[2]
Lapponica is a non-family asteroid of the main belt'sbackground population when applying thehierarchical clustering method to itsproper orbital elements.[4] Based on osculating Keplerianorbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of theFlora family (402), a giantasteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt.[5]
The asteroid orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,184 days;semi-major axis of 2.19 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.14 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[3] The body'sobservation arc begins with its first observation as1953 EC1 atGoethe Link Observatory in March 1953, more than 24 years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]
Thesurvey designation "T-3" stands for the thirdPalomar–Leiden Trojan survey, named after the fruitful collaboration of the Palomar andLeiden Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s. 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.[10]
Lapponica has been characterized as anL-type asteroid in theSDSS-based taxonomy and byPan-STARRS' survey.[8][9] It is also an assumedS-type asteroid.[5]
In 2008, two rotationallightcurves ofLapponica were obtained fromphotometric observations by French amateur astronomerPierre Antonini and by Maurice Clark at the Montgomery College Observatory in Maryland. Analysis of the best-rated lightcurve gave arotation period of 3.27 hours with a consolidated brightness amplitude between 0.29 and 0.50magnitude (U=3-/2+).[5][6][7]
TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from8 Flora, the parent body of the Flora family – and calculates a diameter of 4.50 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 13.9.[5]
Thisminor planet was named for thebar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) amigratory bird of thefamilyScolopacidae.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 2 February 1999 (M.P.C. 33791) and revised on 2 April 1999 (M.P.C. 34089).[11]
