16879 Campai, provisional designation , is a stony Witt

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. ...

and slow rotator from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. The

S-type asteroid S-type asteroids are asteroids with a spectral type that is indicative of a siliceous (i.e. stony) mineralogical composition, hence the name. They have relatively high density. Approximately 17% of asteroids are of this type, making it the second ...

was discovered on 24 January 1998, by Italian astronomers

Andrea Boattini Andrea Boattini (born 16 September 1969) is an Italian astronomer and a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets. Career After developing a growing interest in minor planets, he graduated in 1996 from the University of Bologna with a t ...

and

Maura Tombelli Maura Tombelli (born 1952 in Montelupo Fiorentino) is an Italian amateur astronomer who began her training in astronomy as an observer of variable stars. She is a prolific discoverer of almost 200 minor planets, including the main-belt asteroid ...

at the

Pistoia Mountains Astronomical Observatory The Pistoia Mountains Astronomical Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico della Montagna Pistoiese; obs. code: 104), also known as the ''San Marcello Observatory'' and the ''Pian dei Termini Observatory'' ( it, Osservatorio di Pian dei Termin ...

in San Marcello Pistoiese, Tuscany, central Italy. It was named for Italian amateur astronomer Paolo Campai.

Orbit and classification

''Campai'' is a member of the Witt family (), a large

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of (predominantly) stony asteroids with more than 1,600 known members. 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 ...

main-belt at a distance of 2.7–2.8 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,673 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 2.76 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.02 and an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a Plane of reference, reference plane and the orbital plane or Axis of rotation, axis of direction of the orbiting object ...

of 7 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The first

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 obtained at

Siding Spring Observatory Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU), incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a coll ...

in July 1977, extending the asteroid's

observation arc In observational astronomy, the observation arc (or arc length) of a Solar System body is the time period between its earliest and latest observations, used for tracing the body's path. It is usually given in days or years. The term is mostly use ...

by 22 years prior to its discovery.

Physical characteristics

''Campai'' has been characterized as a common, stony

, in line with the overall spectral type for members of the Witt family.

Slow rotator

In October 2010, a rotational lightcurve of ''Campai'' was obtained from photometric observations made at the

Palomar Transient Factory The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF, obs. code: I41), was an astronomical survey using a wide-field survey camera designed to search for optical transient and variable sources such as variable stars, supernovae, asteroids and comets. The projec ...

in California. It rendered an exceptionally long period of hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.68 magnitude (). While the result is based on less than full coverage, and may be refined by future observations, ''Campai'' is one of the slowest rotating asteroids known to exist.

Diameter and albedo

The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' calculates a diameter of 10.5 kilometers with an

absolute magnitude Absolute magnitude () is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse Logarithmic scale, logarithmic Magnitude (astronomy), astronomical magnitude scale. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent mag ...

of 13.6 and an assumed standard

albedo Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of sunlight, solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body ...

for a

carbonaceous asteroid C-type (carbonaceous) asteroids are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids. They are volatile-rich and distinguished by a very low albedo because their composition includes a large amount of carbon, in addition to rocks ...

of 0.057.

Naming

This

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

was named for Italian amateur astronomer Paolo Campai (born 1957) from Florence, who is specialized in teaching and astrophotography. Both discoverers made his acquaintance near Florence on a night in 1985, while observing comet

1P/Halley Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...

and α Phoenicis. The approved naming citation 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 6 August 2003 ().

References

External links

Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form

)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books

– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend

– Minor Planet Center * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Campai 016879 Discoveries by Andrea Boattini Discoveries by Maura Tombelli Named minor planets 016879 19980124