2537 Gilmore, provisional designation , is a Eunomia

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 middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 September 1951, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at

Heidelberg Observatory Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students. ...

in southern Germany. It was named after New Zealand astronomer couple

Alan C. Gilmore Alan Charles Gilmore (born 1944 in Greymouth, New Zealand) is a New Zealand astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and other astronomical objects. He is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 41 minor planets, all but ...

and

Pamela M. Kilmartin Pamela M. Kilmartin is a New Zealand astronomer and a co-discoverer of minor planets and comets. She is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 41 asteroids, all in collaboration with her husband, the astronomer Alan C. Gilmo ...

Orbit and classification

''Gilmore'' is a member of the

Eunomia family The Eunomia or Eunomian family () is a large asteroid family of S-type asteroids named after the asteroid 15 Eunomia. It is the most prominent family in the intermediate asteroid belt and the 6th-largest family with nearly six thousand known members ...

, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt. 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 2.2–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,581 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 13 ° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, the body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg in 1951.

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, ''Gilmore'' measures 7.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.309, while the ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes an albedo of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 6.7 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.19.

Rotation period

From January to February 2014, two rotational lightcurves of ''Gilmore'' were obtained from photometric observations 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 ...

, California. The lightcurves 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 and hours with a brightness variation of 0.34 and 0.35 in magnitude, respectively ().

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of New Zealand astronomer couple

and his wife, Pamela (née Kilmartin), two very productive observers of comets and minor planet in the Southern Hemisphere. They research at the

Mount John University Observatory University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory (UCMJO), previously known as Mt John University Observatory (MJUO), is New Zealand's premier astronomical research observatory. It is situated at ASL atop Mount John at the northern end of the ...

since 1980, and are members of the

Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) is the New Zealand national astronomical society. It is an association of professional and amateur astronomers with the prime objective to the ''promotion and extension of knowledge of astronom ...

. The official 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 24 July 1983 (), based on a proposal by Conrad Bardwell (''see

1615 Bardwell 1615 Bardwell, provisional designation , is a rare-type Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 27 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 28 January 1950, by IU's Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Lin ...

'') and

Brian G. Marsden Brian Geoffrey Marsden (5 August 1937 – 18 November 2010) was a British astronomer and the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (director emeritus from 2006 to 2010). ...

. Pamela Gilmore is also honored by the minor planet 3907 Kilmartin.

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:Gilmore 002537 Discoveries by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth Named minor planets 19510904