3066 McFadden, provisional designation ', is a stony 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 regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 1 March 1984, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station near Tucson, Arizona. It was named for American planetary scientist

Lucy-Ann McFadden Lucy-Ann Adams McFadden (born 1953) is an American astronomer and planetary scientist. An employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, she also founded the Science, Discovery & the Universe Program within the University of Maryla ...

. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 13.8 hours.

Orbit and classification

''McFadden'' 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 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4 years (1,466 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 2.53 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 16 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid was first observed as ' at the Simeis Observatory in June 1933. The body's observation arc begins as ' at

Uccle Observatory The Royal Observatory of Belgium (french: link=no, Observatoire Royal de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België), has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels (Belgium) since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse ...

in March 1936, or 48 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.

Naming

This minor planet was named after

(born 1952), a

planetary scientist Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...

at the University of Maryland at the time of naming. Her research included the similarities between the spectra of

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

s and near-Earth objects. 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 14 April 1987 ().

Physical characteristics

''McFadden'' is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid.

Rotation period

In June 2005, a rotational lightcurve of ''McFadden'' was obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian Warner at his

Palmer Divide Observatory This is a list of observatory codes (IAU codes or MPC codes) published by the Minor Planet Center. For a detailed description, ''see observations of small Solar System bodies Observations of minor planets as well as comets and natural satellite ...

in Colorado. Lightcurve analysis 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 13.798 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.13 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, ''McFadden'' measures between 13.526 and 15.63 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.240 and 0.363. The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' adopts Petr Pravec's revised WISE data with an albedo of 0.2541 and a diameter of 14.90 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.24.

Orbit and classification

Naming

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

Diameter and albedo

Notes

References

External links