9999 Wiles, provisional designation , is a Koronian
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 outer region of 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 6 to 7 kilometers in diameter. It was named after British mathematician
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles (born 11 April 1953) is an English mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, specializing in number theory. He is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem, for which he was awar ...
.
Discovery
''Wiles'' was discovered on 29 September 1973, by Dutch astronomer couple
Ingrid
Ingrid may refer to:
* Ingrid (given name)
* Ingrid (record label), and artist collective
* Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid
* Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones
* 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid
* InGrid, the grid computing project ...
and
Cornelis van Houten
Cornelis Johannes van Houten (18 February 1920 – 24 August 2002) was a Dutch astronomer, sometimes referred to as Kees van Houten.
Early life and education
Born in The Hague, he spent his entire career at Leiden University except for a brief p ...
at Leiden and
Tom Gehrels
Anton M.J. "Tom" Gehrels (February 21, 1925 – July 11, 2011) was a Dutch–American astronomer, Professor of Planetary Sciences, and Astronomer at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
Biography
Youth and education
Gehrels was born at Haa ...
at
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 ...
, California, United States. 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 at Palomar, 10 days prior to its official discovery observation.
The
survey designation
Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calcu ...
"T-2" stands for the second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey, named after the fruitful collaboration of the Palomar and
Leiden Observatory
Leiden Observatory ( nl, Sterrewacht Leiden) is an astronomical institute of Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Established in 1633 to house the quadrant of Rudolph Snellius, it is the oldest operating university observatory in the world, with ...
in the 1960s and 1970s. Gehrels used Palomar's
Samuel Oschin telescope
The Samuel Oschin telescope, also called the Oschin Schmidt, is a Schmidt camera at the Palomar Observatory in northern San Diego County, California. It consists of a 49.75-inch Schmidt corrector plate and a 72-inch (f/2.5) mirror. The instrument ...
(also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the
photographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...
s to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where
astrometry
Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way.
His ...
was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.
Classification and orbit
The asteroid is a member of the
Koronis family ]
The Koronis or Koronian family (), also known as the Lacrimosa family, is a very large asteroid family of S-type asteroid, stony asteroids, located in the Kirkwood gap, outer region of the asteroid belt. They are thought to have been formed at le ...
, a collisional group consisting of a few hundred known bodies with nearly ecliptic, ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun in the