2324 Janice, provisional designation 1978 VS4, is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 7 November 1978, by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Schelte Bus at the Palomar Observatory in California.[1] The asteroid was named for Janice Cline at Caltech. The presumably C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 23.2 hours.[4]
It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,977 days; semi-major axis of 3.08 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 0° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as A911 MC at Lowell Observatory in June 1911, more than 67 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.[1]
In October 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Janice was obtained from photometric observations by Gordon Gartrelle at the University of North Dakota Observatory in Grand Forks (730). Lightcurve analysis gave a tentative rotation period of 23.2 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.19 magnitude (U=2-).[11] As of 2018, no secure period has been obtained.[4]
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 23.55 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.5.[4]
^ abcdUsui, 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)
^ abcGartrelle, Gordon M. (April 2012). "Lightcurve Results for Eleven Asteroids". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 39 (2): 40–46. Bibcode:2012MPBu...39...40G. ISSN1052-8091.
^ abcdMasiero, 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. S2CID46350317.
^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. S2CID53493339.