342843 Davidbowie, provisional designation , is a Henan

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 region of the asteroid belt, approximately 1.4 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 21 December 2008, by German astronomer

Felix Hormuth Felix Hormuth (born 1975) is a German astronomer, working at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) until 2016, and a prolific discoverer of minor planets. During his stay at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain, he has discovered many aste ...

from Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy at

Calar Alto Observatory The Calar Alto Observatory (Centro Astronómico Hispano en Andalucía or "Spanish Astronomical Centre in Andalusia") is an astronomical observatory located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a mountain in the Sierra de Los Filabres ra ...

in Almería, southeastern Spain. It was named for British singer-songwriter

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Orbit and classification

''Davidbowie'' is a member of the Henan family (), a large

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

L-type asteroid L-type asteroids are relatively uncommon asteroids with a strongly reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.75 μm, and a featureless flat spectrum longwards of this. In comparison with the K-type, they exhibit a more reddish spectrum at visible wavele ...

s in the intermediate main-belt, named after 2085 Henan. 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 2.5–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,665 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 2.75 AU). The asteroid has a well-observed orbit with the lowest possible condition code. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 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 3 ° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as at the Steward Observatory (Kitt Peak) in September 2003, extending the asteroid'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 ...

by almost 5 years prior to its official discovery observation at Calar Alto. Notably, the asteroid had a close encounter with the 200 kilometer-sized asteroid 16 Psyche, one of the most massive bodies in the main-belt, which it passed at only on 15 May 1935.

Physical characteristics

Based on its

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 17.1, ''Davidbowie''s diameter can be estimated to measure approximately 1.4 kilometers, using an

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 ...

of 0.13, derived from the family's parent body, 2085 Henan. As of 2017, ''Davidbowie''s effective size and shape, as well as its

poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, albedo and

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 ...

remain unknown.

Naming

In 2015, 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 British singer, songwriter, producer and actor,

(1947–2016), just 3 days before Bowie's 68th birthday. Considered to be one of the most influential artists, Bowie released more than 25 albums including '' The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars''. He was also an actor in movies such as ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

'' and ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 fantasy novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. It is epistolary in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection of ...

''. 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 5 January 2015 (),

Orbit and classification

Physical characteristics

Naming

References

External links