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40463 Frankkameny (provisional designation 1999 RE₄₄) is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 September 1999, by Canadian amateur astronomer Gary Billings at Calgary Observatory (681) in Alberta, Canada. The asteroid was named after American activist Frank Kameny.

Orbit and classification

Frankkameny is a non-family from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.3–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,692 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. Frankkameny was first identified as 1997 EJ₁₉ by Spacewatch in 1997, extending the asteroid's observation arc by more than 2 years prior to its discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Frankkameny has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey.

Rotation period

It has a rotation period of 56.6 hours with a brightness variation of 0.51 magnitude, based on a lightcurve obtained in September 2013, from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory, California (U=2). While not being a slow rotator, Frankkameny's period is far longer than average, and its brightness amplitude is indicative of a non-spheroidal shape.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Frankkameny measures 3.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.075, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 4.2 kilometers.

Naming

This minor planet was named in honour of American astronomer and gay rights activist Frank Kameny (1925–2011), by the Minor Planet Center and the International Astronomical Union on 3 July 2012. Frank Kameny was a Harvard-trained variable star astronomer. He died 11 October 2011. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 3 July 2012 (M.P.C. 79911).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 40463 Frankkameny (1999 RE44)" (2016-05-04 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
2. ^ "40463 Frankkameny (1999 RE44)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ "LCDB Data for (40463) Frankkameny". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 17 November 2016.
6. ^ 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.
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.
8. US: Gay rights campaigner Frank Kameny has asteroid named for him, Pink News, 10 July 2012
9. Asteroid between Mars, Jupiter named for US gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, The Washington Post, July 10, 2012
10. Brett Zongker, Asteroid named for gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, Business Week, July 10, 2012
11. Andrew Davis, Canadian names asteroid for Kameny; Anderson Cooper inspires Chinese, Windy City Times, 2012-07-10
12. Freya Petersen, Canadian astronomer names asteroid after gay rights activist Archived 15 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Alaska Dispatch, July 11, 2012
13. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 November 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 (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 40463 Frankkameny at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 40463 Frankkameny 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 Gary W. Billings
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1999