38050 Bias,
''prov. designation'': , is a
Jupiter trojan from the
Greek camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 10 November 1998, by astronomers with the
Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project is a collaboration of the United States Air Force, NASA, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory for the systematic detection and tracking of near-Earth objects ...
at
Lincoln Lab's ETS in Socorro, New Mexico.
The dark Jovian
asteroid is one of the
70 largest Jupiter trojans and has a
rotation period of 18.9 hours.
It was named after the Athenian warrior
Bias
Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...
from Greek mythology.
Orbit and classification
''Bias'' is a dark Jovian
asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's
Lagrangian point, 60
° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit in a
1:1 resonance .
It is also a non-
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
asteroid in the
Jovian background population.
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.8–5.6
AU once every 11 years and 10 months (4,337 days;
semi-major axis of 5.2 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-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (g ...
of 0.08 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 reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...
of 29
° 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 agains ...
.
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 published by the
Digitized Sky Survey and taken at the
Siding Spring Observatory in August 1982, more than 16 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.
Numbering and 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 ''mino ...
was
numbered on 28 March 2002 ().
On 14 May 2021, the object was named by the
Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN), after
Bias
Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...
from Greek mythology. Bias was an Athenian warrior and stalwart who followed
Menestheus
In Greek mythology, Menestheus (; Ancient Greek: Μενεσθεύς) was a legendary king of Athens during the Trojan War. He was set up as king by the twins Castor and Pollux when Theseus travelled to the Underworld after abducting their sister, ...
, to prevent
Hector
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
from reaching the Greek ships.
Physical characteristics
''Bias'' has a
V–I color index of 0.99, typical for most
D-type asteroid
D-type asteroids have a very low albedo and a featureless reddish spectrum. It has been suggested that they have a composition of organic-rich silicates, carbon and anhydrous silicates, possibly with water ice in their interiors. D-type asteroids ...
. It is also an assumed
C-type.
Rotation period
Several 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 freq ...
s of ''Bias'' have been obtained from
photometric observations. In June 2006,
Lawrence Molnar at
Calvin University determined a
rotation period of hours with a brightness variation of 0.37
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 ...
, using the
Calvin-Rehoboth Robotic Observatory in New Mexico.().
In September 2008 observations at the
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory ( es, Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, ORM) is an astronomical observatory located in the municipality of Garafía on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The observatory site is operated b ...
gave a period of 18.854 hours with an amplitude of 0.22 magnitude (), while astronomers at the
Palomar Transient Factory obtained a period of 18.917 hours in the R-band in October 2010 ().
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese
Akari satellite and 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 201 ...
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 201 ...
, ''Bias'' measures between 50.44 and 61.603 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an
albedo
Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of 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 that refl ...
between 0.056 and 0.133.
The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 61.04 kilometers based on an
absolute magnitude
Absolute magnitude () is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse logarithmic astronomical magnitude scale. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it ...
of 9.8.
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Minor Planet Center
Asteroid (38050) 1998 VR38at the Small Bodies Data Ferret
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bias
038050
038050
Named minor planets
19981110