2029 Binomi, provisional designation 1969 RB, is a Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 11 September 1969, by Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland.[9] It was named for the fictitious mathematician "Alessandro Binomi" who invented the binomial formula.[2]
Classification and orbit
Binomi is a member of the Vesta family, one of the largest collisional populations of the inner asteroid belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,316 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
The body's observation arc begins at Crimea–Nauchnij on 10 September 1969, the night before its official discovery observation at Zimmerwald.[9]
In January 2014, two rotational lightcurves of Binomi were obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.7555 and 3.756 hours with a brightness variation of 0.51 and 0.52 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).[6][7]
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Binomi measures 6.893 and 7.050 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.2468 and 0.257, respectively.[4][5]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its family – and calculates a diameter of 5.39 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.51.[3]
Naming
This minor planet was named for the fictitious mathematician "Alessandro Binomi", inventor of the binomial formula. This act of parody science was common among students at German-speaking universities (de:Binomi). The real inventors of the binomial formula are the Bernoullis, after whom the asteroid 2034 Bernoulli was named.[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 August 1981 (M.P.C. 6208).[10]
