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21501 Acevedo (provisional designation 1998 KC₈) is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2.4 kilometers in diameter.

The asteroid was discovered on 23 May 1998, by the LONEOS team at Anderson Mesa Station in Arizona, United States. It was named for Tony Acevedo, staff member at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Orbit and classification

Acevedo is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest families of stony asteroids. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,286 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic.

The body's observation arc begins almost 20 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in November 1978.

Physical characteristics

Acevedo has been characterized as a common S-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey.

Lightcurve

In August 2013, a fragmentary rotational lightcurve of Acevedo was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a provisional rotation period of 6.5689 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.10 magnitude (U=1).

Diameter and albedo estimate

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – which derives from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 2.4 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 15.25.

Naming

This minor planet was named in honour of Tony Acevedo (born 1950), staff member at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, working as multimedia graphic designer and media officer. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 July 2008 (M.P.C. 63393).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 21501 Acevedo (1998 KC8)" (2016-08-02 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
2. ^ "21501 Acevedo (1998 KC8)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (21501) Acevedo". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
4. ^ 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 27 April 2016.
5. ^ 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 27 April 2016.
6. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

External links

• 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 (20001)-(25000) – Minor Planet Center
• 21501 Acevedo at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 21501 Acevedo at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Flora asteroids
• Discoveries by LONEOS
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1998