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931 Whittemora (prov. designation: A920 FB or 1920 GU) is a metallic background asteroid, approximately 46 kilometers (29 miles) in diameter, located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by French astronomer François Gonnessiat at the Algiers Observatory in North Africa on 19 March 1920. The M-type asteroid has a rotation period of 19.2 hours. It was named after American archaeologist Thomas Whittemore (1871–1950).

Orbit and classification

Whittemora is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.4–3.9 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,061 days; semi-major axis of 3.17 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.

Discovery

Whittemora was discovered by French astronomer François Gonnessiat at the Algiers Observatory in North Africa on 19 March 1920. Two nights later, it was independently discovered by Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory on 21 March 1920. However, the Minor Planet Center only credits Gonnessiat with the discovery. The asteroid was first observed as A904 HB (1904 HB) at Heidelberg on 22 April 1904, where the body's observation arc begins on 21 March 1920.

Naming

This minor planet was named after American scholar and archaeologist Thomas Whittemore (1871–1950), who was professor at both Harvard and Columbia universities. The naming was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 90).

Physical characteristics

In the Tholen classification, Whittemora is a metallic M-type asteroid. It is an M0 in the taxonomic classification according to the method used by Barucci (1987).

Rotation period

In March 2016, a rotational lightcurve of Whittemora was obtained from photometric observations by French and Swiss astronomers Christophe Demeautis, Mickael Porte and Raoul Behrend. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 19.199±0.005 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25±0.02 magnitude (U=2+). This result supersedes a period determination of 16+ hours by Pierre Antonini from June 2006 (U=2), and of 19.20±0.01 hours with an amplitude of 0.2±0.05 magnitude by John Menke at the Menke Observatory in January 2004 (U=2).

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the Japanese Akari satellite, Whittemora measures (45.27±3.4), (45.298±0.727) and (48.98±1.01) kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of (0.1704±0.028), (0.170±0.050) and (0.148±0.007), respectively.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results from IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.1704 and a diameter of 45.27 km based on an absolute magnitude of 9.26. Further published mean-diameters and albedos by the WISE team include (40.619±2.021 km) and (56.841±0.673 km) with corresponding albedos of (0.212±0.051), and (0.1085±0.0270). Two asteroid occultations on 1 January 2004 and 12 February 2015, gave a best-fit ellipse dimension of 45.0 × 45.0 and 49.0 × 49.0 kilometers, respectively. These timed observations are taken when the asteroid passes in front of a distant star. However the quality of the measurements are poorly rated.

References

1. ^ "931 Whittemora (A920 FB)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(931) Whittemora". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 83. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_932. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
3. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 931 Whittemora (A920 FB)" (2020-01-08 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
4. ^ "Asteroid 931 Whittemora – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
5. ^ "Asteroid 931 Whittemora". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
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 17 February 2020.
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (931) Whittemora". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
10. ^ "LCDB Data for (931) Whittemora". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 17 February 2020.
11. Menke, John (December 2005). "Asteroid lightcurve results from Menke Observatory" (PDF). The Minor Planet Bulletin. 32 (4): 85–88. Bibcode:2005MPBu...32...85M. Retrieved 10 March 2020.

External links

• Lightcurve Database Query (LCDB), at www.minorplanet.info
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Geneva Observatory, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 931 Whittemora at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 931 Whittemora 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 François Gonnessiat
• Named minor planets
• M-type asteroids (Tholen)
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1920