| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program) |
| Discovery site | Goethe Link Obs. |
| Discovery date | 8 October 1953 |
| Designations | |
| (9260) Edwardolson | |
Named after | Edward C. Olson (astronomer)[2] |
| 1953 TA1 · 1991 QH | |
| main-belt · Flora[3] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.48 yr (23,185 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.8164AU |
| Perihelion | 1.7638 AU |
| 2.2901 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2298 |
| 3.47yr (1,266 days) | |
| 165.54° | |
| 0° 17m 3.84s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.0979° |
| 214.59° | |
| 148.34° | |
| Knownsatellites | 1[a][4] |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 4.05 km(taken)[3] 4.052 km[5] 4.115±0.362 km[6][7] |
| 3.0852±0.0001h[8] | |
| 0.1643[5] 0.262±0.037[6][7] | |
| S[3] | |
| 14.0[6] · 14.1[1] · 14.54±0.086[5][3] | |
9260 Edwardolson, provisional designation1953 TA1, is a Florianbinary[a]asteroid from the inner regions of theasteroid belt, approximately 4.1 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 October 1953, byIndiana University during itsIndiana Asteroid Program atGoethe Link Observatory in Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.[9] It was named for American astronomerEdward Olson.[2]
Edwardolson is a member of theFlora family, one of the largest families ofstony asteroids. It orbits the Sun in theinner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,266 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.23 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1] As noprecoveries were taken, the asteroid'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation in 1953.[9]
A rotationallightcurve ofEdwardolson was obtained from photometric observations in several locations including the SlovakianSkalnaté pleso Observatory. It rendered arotation period of3.0852±0.0001 hours with a low brightness variation of 0.11 inmagnitude, which suggests that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape (U=n/a).[8] According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has analbedo of 0.26 and 0.16, and an respective absolute magnitude of 14.0 and 14.54. Both data sets converge to a diameter of 4.1 kilometers.[5][6][7]
Aminor-planet moon orbitingEdwardolson was discovered in 2005, making it abinary system. The satellite has a fairly shortorbital period of 17 hours, 47 minutes, and 2 seconds (17.785±0.003 hours),[4] and an estimated mean-diameter ratio of0.27±0.03, which would give the satellite a diameter of approximately 1.0 to 1.3 kilometers.[a]
Thisminor planet was named in honor of American astronomer Edward C. Olson (born 1930) of theUniversity of Illinois whose observations explained the distortion of the outer layers of mass-gaining stars, and how their rotation can come close to the stability limit during the involved mass-transfer process and the preserved angular momentum.[2] Olson was also an active member of theInternational Astronomical Union, affiliated with its DivisionG Stars and Stellar Physics.[10] The approved naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 13 July 2004 (M.P.C. 52322).[11]
