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4209 Briggs, provisional designation 1986 TG₄, is a carbonaceous Alauda asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 28 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 October 1986, by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at the Palomar Observatory in California, United States. The asteroid was named after American space physicist Geoffrey A. Briggs.

Orbit and classification

Briggs is a member of the Alauda family (902), a large family of typically bright carbonaceous asteroids and named after its parent body, 702 Alauda.

It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.9–3.4 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,048 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was obtained at El Leoncito in 1969, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 17 years prior to its discovery.

Lightcurves

A rotational lightcurves of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made by American astronomer Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory (716) in September 2003. The revised lightcurve showed a rotation period of 12.22 hours with a brightness variation of 0.45 in magnitude (U=3-). A second lightcurve from a collaboration of Czech, American and Italian observatories published in November 2013, gave a period of 12.2530 hours (U=n/a).

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 25.6 and 31.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo in the range of 0.07 to 0.13. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.08 and a diameter of 25.4 kilometer, slightly below the result obtained by IRAS.

Naming

This minor planet was named after American space physicist Geoffrey A. Briggs, director of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters during the 1980s. He was instrumental for the formation of the U.S.–Soviet Joint Working Group for Solar System Exploration and became its co-chairman. He was on the imaging teams for the Mariner, Viking and Voyager missions. Briggs continued to promote space-related accomplishments to the public at the Air and Space Museum. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 June 1991 (M.P.C. 18456).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 4209 Briggs (1986 TG4)" (2017-03-31 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(4209) Briggs". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 360. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_4177. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. ^ "Briggs, Geoffrey A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 6 August 2002. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
4. ^ "LCDB Data for (4209) Briggs". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 2 May 2016.
5. ^ "Asteroid 4209 Briggs – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
6. ^ Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
7. ^ Usui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
8. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Nugent, C.; et al. (November 2012). "Preliminary Analysis of WISE/NEOWISE 3-Band Cryogenic and Post-cryogenic Observations of Main Belt Asteroids". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 759 (1): 5. arXiv:1209.5794. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759L...8M. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/759/1/L8. S2CID 46350317. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
9. ^ 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. S2CID 35447010. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
10. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121. S2CID 119293330. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
11. ^ Warner, Brian D. (April 2011). "Upon Further Review: VI. An Examination of Previous Lightcurve Analysis from the Palmer Divide Observatory". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 38 (2): 96–101. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38...96W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
12. Warner, Brian D. (March 2004). "Rotation rates for asteroids 875, 926, 1679, 1796, 3915, 4209, and 34817". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 31 (1): 19–22. Bibcode:2004MPBu...31...19W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
13. ^ Hanus, J.; Broz, M.; Durech, J.; Warner, B. D.; Brinsfield, J.; Durkee, R.; et al. (November 2013). "An anisotropic distribution of spin vectors in asteroid families". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 559: 19. arXiv:1309.4296. Bibcode:2013A&A...559A.134H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321993. S2CID 119214895. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
14. 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. S2CID 53493339. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
15. ^ "4209 Briggs (1986 TG4)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
16. Nesvorný, D.; Broz, M.; Carruba, V. (December 2014). "Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families". Asteroids IV. pp. 297–321. arXiv:1502.01628. Bibcode:2015aste.book..297N. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016. ISBN 9780816532131. S2CID 119280014.
17. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.

External links

• The Palmer Divide Observatory: Tour given by Brian Warner on YouTube (time 4:03 min.)
• Lightcurve plot of 4209 Briggs, Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2003)
• Encyclopedia Astronautica – Briggs, Geoffrey A
• 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
• 4209 Briggs at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 4209 Briggs at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Alauda asteroids
• Discoveries by Eleanor F. Helin
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1986