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13070 Seanconnery, provisional designation 1991 RO₂, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 September 1991, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at Haute-Provence Observatory, St. Michael, in southeast France. The asteroid was named after actor Sean Connery.

Orbit and classification

Seanconnery is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,382 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's observation arc begins 20 years prior to its official discovery observation, with its identification 1127 T-1 made during the first Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1971.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In August 2006, a rotational lightcurve of Seanconnery was obtained from photometric observations made at the Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) in Ngunnawal, Australia. The lightcurve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7.085 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18 in magnitude (U=3-).

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Seanconnery has an outstandingly high albedo of 0.90 and a diameter of 1.8 kilometers. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter 3.6 kilometers, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the larger an asteroid's diameter for a certain absolute magnitude (brightness).

Naming

This minor planet was named for celebrated Scottish actor and Academy Award winner Sean Connery (1930–2020), famous for portraying the character James Bond – after which the minor planet 9007 James Bond is named, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. With this minor planet, he is especially honored by the discoverer for his performance as the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville in The Name of the Rose. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 9 March 2001 (M.P.C. 42362).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 13070 Seanconnery (1991 RO2)" (2017-06-03 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(13070) Seanconnery". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (13070) Seanconnery. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 792. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_8733. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (13070) Seanconnery". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 April 2016.
4. ^ 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. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
5. ^ 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 3 December 2016.
6. ^ Higgins, David; Goncalves, Rui M. D. (March 2007). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at Hunters Hill Observatory and Collaborating Stations - June-September 2006". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 34 (1): 16–18. Bibcode:2007MPBu...34...16H. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
7. 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 26 April 2016.
8. ^ "13070 Seanconnery (1991 RO2)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
9. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2016.

External links

• AstDyS-2, (13070) Seanconnery
• 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 (10001)-(15000) – Minor Planet Center
• 13070 Seanconnery at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 13070 Seanconnery at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Background asteroids
• Discoveries by Eric Walter Elst
• Named minor planets
• Palomar–Leiden Trojan-1 survey catalog
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1991
• Sean Connery