274301 Wikipedia, provisional designation , is a
Vestian asteroid orbiting in the inner region of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 25 August 2008 by astronomers at the
Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in northern Ukraine.
The
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 ...
was named after the online encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
in January 2013.
Etymology
The decision of the
Committee for Small Body Nomenclature to assign the name "Wikipedia" to the asteroid was published in the
Minor Planet Circulars on 27 January 2013 ().
The asteroid received the number .
The name was proposed by Andriy Makukha, a board member of
Wikimedia Ukraine. It was submitted to the Committee by the owner of the observatory,
Yuri Ivashchenko.
It reads:
Observation
The asteroid now named Wikipedia was discovered by
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
s from the
Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, the country's only privately owned observatory,
which has discovered over 120 asteroids since 2003.
It was first observed by the Andrushivka team on 25 August 2008 at 22:47
UTC.
It was also observed on the next night and it received provisional designation .
After it was also observed on 6 September by the Andrushivka team, the orbit of the asteroid was calculated accurately. It was shown that the asteroid was the same as and previously spotted by observatories
Caussols-
ODAS (France),
Mount Lemmon Survey and
Steward Observatory (both in Arizona, U.S.).
Characteristics
Wikipedia is a member of the
Vesta family (), one of the most numerous
asteroid families in the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
.
It is located in the proximity of
21791 Mattweegman, one of the family's principal members.
Vestian asteroids have a composition akin to cumulate
eucrites (
HED meteorites). They are thought to have originated deep within
Vesta's crust, possibly from the
Rheasilvia crater, a large
impact crater
An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...
on its southern hemisphere which formed as the result of a subcatastrophic collision.
Wikipedia orbits the Sun in the
inner asteroid belt at a distance of once every 3 years and 8 months (1,342 days;
semi-major axis of 2.38 AU). 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 0.15 and an
inclination of 7
° 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 ...
.
The asteroid's
observation arc begins almost 11 years prior to its official discovery, with its first observation being by the
ODAS survey in September 1997.
See also
*
List of minor planets
The following is a list of minor planets in ascending numerical order. Minor planets are Small Solar System bodies, small bodies in the Solar System: asteroids, Distant minor planet, distant objects, and dwarf planets, but not comets. As of 2022 ...
References
External links
Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (270001)-(275000) Minor Planet Center
''Dictionary of Minor Planet Names'' Google Books
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikipedia
274301
274301
Named minor planets
274301 Wikipedia
20080825