1951 Lick, provisional designation , is a rare-type
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
and
Mars-crosser, approximately 5.6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 26 July 1949, by American astronomer
Carl Wirtanen at
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The ...
on the summit of Mount Hamilton, California, and named for American philanthropist
James Lick.
Orbit
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.3–1.5
AU once every 20 months (599 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (g ...
of 0.06 and an
inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...
of 39
° with respect to the
ecliptic
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making.
Fr ...
.
''Lick''s
observation arc
In observational astronomy, the observation arc (or arc length) of a Solar System body is the time period between its earliest and latest observations, used for tracing the body's path. It is usually given in days or years. The term is mostly use ...
begins with its discovery observation, as no
precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.
Physical characteristics
Spectral type
In the
SMASS taxonomic scheme, ''Lick''s
spectral type is that of a rare
A-type asteroid with a surface consisting of almost pure
olivine
The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals, silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of Nesosilicates, nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle, it is a com ...
.
As of 2016, only 17 minor planets of this type are known.
Rotation period
In July 2008, a rotational
lightcurve
In astronomy, a light curve is a graph (discrete mathematics), graph of the Radiance, light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude (astronomy), magnitude of light received on the ''y''-axis ...
was obtained from photometric by astronomer
Brian D. Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado, United States. It gave a well-defined
rotation period
In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the '' sidereal rotation period'' (or ''sidereal day''), i.e., the time that the objec ...
of 5.2974 hours with a brightness variation of 0.25 in
magnitude ().
Several lightcurves with a lower or unassessed quality have been obtained by astronomers
Wiesław Z. Wiśniewski and
Petr Pravec in the 1980s and 1990s.
The most recent observation by Michael Lucas in February 2011, gave a period of 5.317 hours with an amplitude of 0.33 magnitude ().
Diameter and albedo
According to 3 observations taken by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite
IRAS
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Infrarood Astronomische Satelliet'') (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a astronomical survey, survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 Janu ...
, ''Lick'' measures 5.57 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an
albedo
Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...
of 0.09.
The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' agrees with the results obtained by IRAS and derives an albedo of 0.10 and a diameter of 5.59 kilometers with an
absolute magnitude of 14.35.
Naming
''Lick'' was named in honor of
James Lick (1796–1876), American
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
and the founder of the discovering Lick Observatory of the University of California. He is also honored by a lunar crater ''
Lick''.
The official was published by the
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Funct ...
on 20 February 1976 ().
Notes
References
External links
Lightcurve plot of 1951 Lick Palmer Divide Observatory,
B. D. Warner (2008)
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
– Minor Planet Center
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lick
001951
Discoveries by Carl A. Wirtanen
Named minor planets
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