26858 Misterrogers (), provisional designation , is a stony
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 sizable
Mars-crosser
A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and .
Many databases, for i ...
on an eccentric orbit from the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on March 21, 1993, by American astronomer
Eleanor Helin
Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin (née Francis, 19 November 1932 – 25 January 2009) was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Some sources gi ...
at the
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
in California.
The likely
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 ...
has 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 8.0 hours.
It was named after children's television host
Fred Rogers
Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...
.
Orbit and classification
''Misterrogers'' is a member of the
Mars-crossing asteroid
A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers Minor planet designation, numbered below 100000 are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and ...
s, a dynamically unstable
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
between the
main belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
and the
near-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
at 1.66
AU.
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.5–3.1
AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,311 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 2.34 AU). Its orbit has an
eccentricity
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
of 0.34 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 22
° with respect to the
ecliptic
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic again ...
.
The asteroid was first observed as ' at the
Goethe Link Observatory
The Goethe Link Observatory, observatory code 760, is an astronomical observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States. It is owned by Indiana University and operated by the Indiana Astronomical Society https://iasindy.org/about.html, which eff ...
in September 1952. The body'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 ...
begins 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 ...
published by the
Digitized Sky Survey
The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a digitized version of several photographic astronomical surveys of the night sky, produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute between 1983 and 2006.
Versions and source material
The term Digitized Sky S ...
, taken at Palomar in May 1990, almost 3 years prior to its official discovery observation.
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 after Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003), who was the host of the
children's television
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television show, television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during ...
program ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...
'' for more than 30 years.
The naming was proposed, and citation prepared, by John G. Radzilowicz, Director of the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium & Observatory at the
Carnegie Science Center
The Carnegie Science Center is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Chateau neighborhood. It is located across the street from Heinz Field.
Overview
The Carnegie Science Center is the most visited mu ...
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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 May 1, 2003 ().
Rogers had a lifelong fascination with the sky and
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
, obtained a pilot's license while still in high school
and also produced with the Carnegie Science Center a
planetarium
A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
A dominant feature of most planetarium ...
show called ''The Sky above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'',
which is still shown at many planetaria across the United States.
Physical characteristics
''Misterrogers'' is an assumed, stony
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 ...
. In line with the body's determined
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 ...
''(see below).''
Rotation period
In April 2011, a rotational
lightcurve
In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular frequ ...
of ''Misterrogers'' was obtained from
photometric observations by
Brian A. Skiff
Brian A. Skiff is an American astronomer noted for discovering numerous asteroids and a number of comets including the periodic comets 114P/Wiseman–Skiff (with Jennifer Wiseman) and 140P/Bowell–Skiff (with Edward Bowell).
Biography
Skiff ...
at
Anderson Mesa Station
Anderson Mesa Station is an astronomical observatory established in 1959 as a dark-sky observing site for Lowell Observatory. It is located at Anderson Mesa in Coconino County, Arizona, about 12 miles southeast of Lowell's main campus on Mars ...
. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined
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 variation of 0.13
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
(). A low brightness amplitude is indicative for a spherical rather than elongated shape.
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the
NEOWISE
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and SMEX-6) is a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program. It was launched in December 2009, and placed in hibernation mode in February 2011, ...
mission of NASA's
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and SMEX-6) is a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program. It was launched in December 2009, and placed in hibernation mode in February 2011, ...
(WISE), ''Misterrogers'' measures 6.33 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28.
However, a WISE-study dedicated to Mars-crossing asteroids in 2017 determined a larger diameter of 8.19 kilometers with an albedo of 0.20.
The Japanese
Akari satellite found a diameter of 8.07 km and an albedo of 0.208,
while the ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 7.82 kilometers based on 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 12.9.
Sizable Mars-crosser
With a diameter of 8.2 kilometers, ''Misterrogers'' is a sizable Mars-crosser of which two dozens or so are known (5–15 km). These include
3581 Alvarez (13.7 km)
1065 Amundsenia (9.8 km),
1139 Atami (9.4 km),
3737 Beckman (14.4 km),
1474 Beira (15.5 km),
5682 Beresford (7.3 km),
7505 Furusho (10.0 km)
7369 Gavrilin (5.5 km),
1011 Laodamia (7.4 km),
6170 Levasseur (5.7 km),
1727 Mette (5.4 km),
1131 Porzia (7.1 km),
985 Rosina (8.2 km),
1235 Schorria (5.6 km),
1310 Villigera (15.2 km), and
1468 Zomba (7 km), which are themselves smaller than the largest members of this dynamical group, namely,
132 Aethra,
323 Brucia (former Mars-crosser),
1508 Kemi,
2204 Lyyli and
512 Taurinensis, all larger than 20 kilometers.
Notes
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Minor Planet Center
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Misterrogers
026858
Discoveries by Eleanor F. Helin
Named minor planets
19930321
Fred Rogers