145523 Lulin, provisional designation , is a background

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 7 March 2006, by Taiwanese astronomers

Hung-Chin Lin This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 numb ...

(林宏欽) and

Ye Quanzhi This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 nu ...

(葉泉志) at

Lulin Observatory The Lulin Observatory (, obs. code: D35) is an astronomical observatory operated by the Institute of Astronomy, National Central University in Taiwan. It is located at the summit of Mount Lulin in Xinyi Township, Nantou County. In 200 ...

in central Taiwan. It was named for the Lulin mountain and the observatory site.

Orbit and classification

''Lulin'' is a non- family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,664 days;

semi-major axis In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the long ...

of 2.75 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 11 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The earliest

precovery In astronomy, precovery (short for pre-discovery recovery) is the process of finding the image of an object in images or photographic plates predating its discovery, typically for the purpose of calculating a more accurate orbit. This happens mos ...

was taken at ESO's La Silla Observatory in March 1992, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 14 years prior to its discovery observation.

Naming

This minor planet was named after the Lulin mountain in central Taiwan, location of the discovering

at an altitude of 2862 meters. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 2 April 2007 (). At the observatory,

Comet Lulin Comet Lulin (official designation C/2007 N3 (Lulin), Traditional Chinese:鹿林彗星) is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Ye Quanzhi and Lin Chi-Sheng from Lulin Observatory. It peaked in brightness and arrived at perigee for observ ...

was discovered in 2007.

Physical characteristics

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 3.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo of 0.073, which is rather typical for a carbonaceous C-type body. As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of ''Lulin'' has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's

rotation period The rotation period of a celestial object (e.g., star, gas giant, planet, moon, asteroid) may refer to its sidereal rotation period, i.e. the time that the object takes to complete a single revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the ...

, pole and shape remain unknown.

References

External links

Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books

– Minor Planet Center * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lulin 145523 Discoveries by Hung-Chin Lin Discoveries by Quanzhi Ye Named minor planets 20060307