9999 Wiles
 Orbit of Wiles (blue), the inner planets and Jupiter (outermost) | |
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery date | 29 September 1973 |
| Designations | |
| (9999) Wiles | |
Named after | Andrew Wiles (British mathematician)[2] |
| 4196 T-2 · 1995 EM8 | |
| main-belt · Koronis [3] | |
| Orbital characteristics [1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 43.36 yr (15,837 days) |
| Aphelion | 3.0391 AU |
| Perihelion | 2.6386 AU |
| 2.8388 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0705 |
| 4.78 yr (1,747 days) | |
| 114.03° | |
| 0° 12m 21.96s / day | |
| Inclination | 3.1995° |
| 76.364° | |
| 234.93° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 5.78 km (calculated)[3] 7.148±0.065 km[4][5] |
| 3.47±0.020 h[6] 3.482±0.0005 h[7] | |
| 0.24 (assumed)[3] 0.262±0.023[4][5] | |
| LS [8] · S [3] · C[9] | |
| 12.8[4] · 12.906±0.002 (R)[7] · 12.890±0.080 (R)[6] · 13.0[1] · 13.04±0.44[8] · 13.36[3] | |
9999 Wiles, provisional designation 4196 T-2, is a Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 to 7 kilometers in diameter. It was named after British mathematician Andrew Wiles.[2]
Discovery
[edit]Wiles was discovered on 29 September 1973, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, California, United States.[10] The body's observation arc begins at Palomar, 10 days prior to its official discovery observation.[10]
The survey designation "T-2" stands for the second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey, named after the fruitful collaboration of the Palomar and Leiden Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.[11]
Classification and orbit
[edit]The asteroid is a member of the Koronis family, a collisional group consisting of a few hundred known bodies with nearly ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 9 months (1,747 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
Physical characteristics
[edit]Wiles' spectral type has been characterized as a LS-type, an intermediary between the common stony and rather rare L-type asteroid.[8] Alternatively, and contrary to the body's determined albedo (see below), it is also considered to be a carbonaceous C-type asteroid.[9]
Rotation period
[edit]In early 2014, two rotational lightcurves of Wiles were obtained from photometric observations in the R-band at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.47 and 3.482 hours with a brightness variation of 0.13 and 0.15 magnitude (U=2/2).[6][7]
Diameter and albedo
[edit]According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Wiles measures 7.148 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.262,[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for members of the Koronis family of 0.24, and calculates a diameter of 17.12 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 11.0.[3]
Naming
[edit]This minor planet was named after of Andrew J. Wiles (born 1953), a British mathematician and professor at Princeton University, who is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem in 1993.[2] The naming was proposed by Lutz D. Schmadel, who also prepared the citation. It was published on 2 April 1999 (M.P.C. 34356).[2][12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 9999 Wiles (4196 T-2)" (2017-01-28 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
- ^ a b c d Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(9999) Wiles". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (9999) Wiles. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 716. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_7787. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
- ^ a b c d e f "LCDB Data for (9999) Wiles". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90.
- ^ a b c Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Chang, Chan-Kao; Ip, Wing-Huen; Lin, Hsing-Wen; Cheng, Yu-Chi; Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Yang, Ting-Chang; et al. (August 2015). "Asteroid Spin-rate Study Using the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 219 (2): 19. arXiv:1506.08493. Bibcode:2015ApJS..219...27C. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/219/2/27. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ a b Gianluca Masi; Sergio Foglia & Richard P. Binzel. "Search for Unusual Spectroscopic Candidates Among 40313 minor planets from the 3rd Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog".
- ^ a b "9999 Wiles (4196 T-2)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ "Minor Planet Discoverers". Minor Planet Center. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
External links
[edit]- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (5001)-(10000) – Minor Planet Center
- 9999 Wiles at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 9999 Wiles at the JPL Small-Body Database
