24988 Alainmilsztajn, 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 inner regions of the
asteroid belt, approximately 2.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 June 1998, by the
OCA–DLR Asteroid Survey
The OCA–DLR Asteroid Survey (ODAS) was an astronomical survey to search for small Solar System bodies focusing on near-Earth objects in the late 1990s. This European scientific project was a collaboration between the French Observatoire de la ...
at
CERGA
The CERGA Observatory (french: Centre de recherches en géodynamique et astrométrie; obs. code: 010) was a scientific department and astronomical station of the Côte d'Azur Observatory in southern France, where several asteroids were discovere ...
, Caussols, in southeastern France.
The asteroid was named after French particle physicist
Alain Milsztajn.
Orbit and classification
''Alainmilsztajn'' is a non-
family from the main belt's
background population. It orbits the Sun in the
inner
Interior may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas
* ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck
* ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See
* Interior de ...
asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–2.7
AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,363 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.14 and an
inclination of 5
° with respect to the
ecliptic.
The asteroid's
observation arc begins 3 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a
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 ...
taken by the
Steward Observatory's
Spacewatch survey at Kitt Peakt in October 1995.
Physical characteristics
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent
NEOWISE mission, ''Alainmilsztajn'' measures 2.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an exceptionally high
albedo of 0.42,
while the ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for
stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 2.5 kilometers with an
absolute magnitude of 15.34.
Rotation period
In October 2010, a rotational
lightcurve of ''Alainmilsztajn'' was obtained from photometric observations made by astronomers 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. The fragmentary lightcurve gave a
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 ...
of hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.09
magnitude ().
Naming
This
minor planet was named in memory of French particle physicist and astronomer Alain Milsztajn (1955–2007). His research included the structure of the
proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
and the quest of detecting
dark matter by means of
gravitational lensing
A gravitational lens is a distribution of matter (such as a galaxy cluster, cluster of galaxies) between a distant light source and an observer that is capable of bending the light from the source as the light travels toward the observer. This ...
.
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 19 August 2008 ().
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alainmilsztajn
024988
024988
Named minor planets
19980619