2708 Burns

2708 Burns
	Shape model of Burns from its lightcurve
Discovery
Discovered by	E. Bowell
Discovery site	Anderson Mesa Stn.
Discovery date	24 November 1981
Designations
MPC designation	(2708) Burns
Named after	Joseph A. Burns ; (American astronomer)
Alternative designations	1981 WT · 1951 GG; 1961 DN · 1965 YB; 1978 EL3 · A912 AE
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer); Themis
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	66.42 yr (24,261 d)
Aphelion	3.6268 AU
Perihelion	2.5337 AU
Semi-major axis	3.0803 AU
Eccentricity	0.1774
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.41 yr (1,975 d)
Mean anomaly	227.73°
Mean motion	0° 10m 56.28s / day
Inclination	2.7828°
Longitude of ascending node	111.65°
Argument of perihelion	331.24°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	13.63±3.61 km; 20.085±0.110 km; 20.263±0.244 km; 20.4±2.0 km; 22±2 km
Synodic rotation period	5.315±0.003 h
Geometric albedo	0.051±0.003; 0.06±0.01; 0.07±0.01; 0.0836±0.0151; 0.12±0.11
Spectral type	SMASS = B
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.8 · 12.00; 12.1

2708 Burns (prov. designation: 1981 WT) is a carbonaceous Themistian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 24 November 1981, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States. It was named after American planetary scientist Joseph A. Burns.^[1] The likely elongated B-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.3 hours.^[3]

Orbit and classification

Burns is a Themistian asteroid that belongs to the Themis family (602),^[3]^[4] a very large family of carbonaceous asteroids, named after 24 Themis.^[11] 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 (1,975 days; semi-major axis of 3.08 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.^[2]

The asteroid was first observed as A912 AE at Winchester Observatory (799) in January 1912. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Goethe Link Observatory in February 1950, more than 31 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.^[1]

Naming

This minor planet was named after Joseph A. Burns (born 1941), American planetary scientist and astronomer at Cornell University in New York,^[1] and a co-discoverer of the trans-Neptunian object (385191) at Palomar in 1997. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 August 1982 (M.P.C. 7158).^[12]

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Burns is a carbonaceous B-type,^[2]^[3] which are somewhat brighter than the common C-type asteroids.

Rotation period

In March 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Burns was obtained from photometric observations by French amateur astronomer René Roy. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 5.315 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.52 magnitude, indicative for a non-spherical shape (U=3).^[10]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Burns measures between 13.63 and 22 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.051 and 0.12.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 17.86 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.1.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "2708 Burns (1981 WT)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2708 Burns (1981 WT)" (2016-07-15 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "LCDB Data for (2708) Burns". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 28 March 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Asteroid 2708 Burns – Nesvorny HCM Asteroid Families V3.0". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alí-Lagoa, V.; Licandro, J.; Gil-Hutton, R.; Cañ; ada-Assandri, M.; Delbo', M.; et al. (June 2016). "Differences between the Pallas collisional family and similarly sized B-type asteroids". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 591: 11. Bibcode:2016A&A...591A..14A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527660. hdl:11336/63614.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alí-Lagoa, V.; de León, J.; Licandro, J.; Delbó, M.; Campins, H.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; et al. (June 2013). "Physical properties of B-type asteroids from WISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 554: 16. arXiv:1303.5487. Bibcode:2013A&A...554A..71A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220680.
^ ^a ^b Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (2708) Burns". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
^ 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.
^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 28 March 2018.