3040 Kozai

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3040 Kozai
Discovery [1]
Discovered by W. Liller
Discovery site Cerro Tololo
Discovery date 23 January 1979
Designations
MPC designation 3040 Kozai
Named after
Yoshihide Kozai
(astronomer)[2]
1979 BA
Mars-crosser
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc 36.65 yr (13,388 days)
Aphelion 2.2095 AU
Perihelion 1.4721 AU
1.8408 AU
Eccentricity 0.2003
2.50 yr (912 days)
257.68°
Inclination 46.645°
143.51°
290.17°
Earth MOID 0.6398 AU
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 4–11 km (conversion)[3]
SMASS = S
13.8

3040 Kozai, provisional designation 1979 BA, is a stony asteroid and Mars-crosser on a tilted orbit from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by American astronomer William Liller at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, on 23 January 1979.[4] The asteroid is considered a classical example of an object submitted to the Kozai effect, induced by an outer perturber, which in this case is the gas giant Jupiter.[5]

The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.5–2.2 AU once every 2 years and 6 months (912 days). Its orbit shows a notable eccentricity of 0.20. The orbit is also heavily inclined by 47 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic.[1]

Little is known about the asteroids size, composition, albedo and rotation, despite having a well-observed orbit with the lowest possible uncertainty – which is denoted by a condition code of 0 – and an observation arc that spans over a time period of almost 40 years.[1] With an absolute magnitude of 13.8, the asteroid's diameter could be anywhere between 4 and 11 kilometers for an assumed albedo in the range of 0.05–0.25 (see NASA's conversion table).[3] Since the asteroid's spectral type is that of a brighter stony rather than a darker carbonaceous body, its diameter is on the lower end of NASA's generic conversion table, as an object's diameter decreases, when its albedo increases for a given absolute magnitude.[3]

On January 10, 2044, the asteroid will make a close approach to Mars, passing the Red Planet at a distance of 0.034 AU (5,100,000 km; 3,200,000 mi).[1]

The minor planet was named in honour of 20th-century Japanese astronomer Yoshihide Kozai, discoverer of the periodic comet D/Skiff-Kosai and of the Kozai mechanism.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3040 Kozai (1979 BA)" (2015-09-19 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved November 2015. 
  2. ^ a b Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (3040) Kozai. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 250. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved November 2015. 
  3. ^ a b c "Absolute Magnitude (H)". NASA/JPL. Retrieved 2014-06-28. 
  4. ^ "3040 Kozai (1979 BA)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved November 2015. 
  5. ^ Fuente, Marcos (June 2014). "Extreme trans-Neptunian objects and the Kozai mechanism: signalling the presence of trans-Plutonian planets". arXiv:1406.0715. 

External links[edit]