| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | T. Kojima |
| Discovery site | YGCO Chiyoda Stn. |
| Discovery date | 5 January 1989 |
| Designations | |
| (9321) Alexkonopliv | |
Named after | Alex Konopliv (JPL astronomer)[2] |
| 1989 AK · 1977 VZ1 1977 XD · 1984 EK | |
| main-belt · (outer) [3] background | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 39.46 yr (14,413 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.9271AU |
| Perihelion | 2.2953 AU |
| 3.1112 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2623 |
| 5.49yr (2,004 days) | |
| 95.027° | |
| 0° 10m 46.56s / day | |
| Inclination | 4.3189° |
| 89.167° | |
| 358.09° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 10.28±0.19 km[4] 11.48 km(calculated)[3] |
| 3.4268±0.0010h[5] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[3] 0.116±0.023[4] | |
| C [3] | |
| 13.0[1] · 12.93±0.18[6] · 12.90[4] · 12.979±0.002(R)[5] · 13.43[3] | |
9321 Alexkonopliv, provisional designation1989 AK, is a carbonaceous backgroundasteroid from the outer region of theasteroid belt, approximately 11 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 5 January 1989, by Japanese astronomerTakuo Kojima at theYGCO Chiyoda Station, Japan.[7] It was named forJPL-scientistAlex Konopliv.[2]
Alexkonopliv is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population. It orbits the Sun in theouter asteroid belt at a distance of 2.3–3.9 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,004 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.26 and aninclination of 4° with respect to theecliptic.[1] In November 1977, it was first identified as1977 VZ1 at thePurple Mountain Observatory, China, extending the body'sobservation arc by 12 years prior to its official discovery observation at Chiyoda Station.[7]
Thisminor planet was named afterJPL-scientist Alex Konopliv (born 1960), an internationally recognized authority on the measurement of the gravitational field of Solar System bodies tracked by satellites in Earth's orbit.Various Mars missions used his gravity field determinations for the Red Planet.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 5 October 1998 (M.P.C. 32610).[8]
In December 2010, a rotationallightcurve ofAlexkonopliv was obtained from photometric observation at thePalomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of3.4268 hours with a brightness variation of 0.19magnitude (U=2).[5]
According to the survey carried out by NASA's space-basedWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Alexkonopliv measures 10.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.116,[4] while theCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo forcarbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 11.5 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 13.43.[3]
