3905 Doppler, 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 binary system from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 28 August 1984, by Czech astronomer Antonín Mrkos at

Kleť Observatory Kleť Observatory ( cz, Hvězdárna Kleť; obs. code: 046) is an astronomical observatory in the Czech Republic. It is situated in South Bohemia, south of the summit of Mount Kleť, near the town of České Budějovice. Constructed in 1957, t ...

and named after physicist Christian Doppler.

Orbit and characterization

''Doppler'' 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 1.9–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,496 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.26 and an inclination of 14 ° with respect to the ecliptic. It has been characterized as a common S-type asteroid. A minor-planet moon orbiting ''Doppler'' every 50.8 hours (or 2 days, 2 hours, and 48 minutes) was found orbiting the asteroid in 2013. This is fairly long orbital period for a moon of an asteroid of this size. The satellite's orbital period is identical to the primary's

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 ...

(F-type binary). According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, ''Doppler'' measures 8.021 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.228, while the ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 8.97 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.6.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Christian Doppler (1803–1853), Austrian physicist in Vienna and well known for the

Doppler effect The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...

, which he first described in 1842, in his book "Ueber das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne". The naming was proposed by Jana Tichá and M. Šolc. 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 28 August 1996 ().

Orbit and characterization

Naming

References

External links