26858 Misterrogers (/ˌmɪstər ˈrɒdʒərz/), provisional designation 1993 FR, is a stony asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser on an eccentric orbit from the asteroid belt, approximately 5.1 miles (8.2 kilometers) in diameter. It was discovered on March 21, 1993, by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at the Palomar Observatory in California.[1] The likely S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 8.0 hours.[4] It was named after children's television host Fred Rogers.[1]
| Discovery [1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. F. Helin |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | March 21, 1993 |
| Designations | |
| (26858) Misterrogers | |
| Pronunciation | /ˌmɪstər ˈrɒdʒərz/ |
Named after | Fred Rogers [1] (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood) |
| 1993 FR · 1952 SU 2000 EK107 | |
| Mars crosser [1][3][4] | |
| Orbital characteristics [3] | |
| Epoch April 27, 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 65.65 yr (23,980 d) |
| Aphelion | 3.1490 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.5384 AU |
| 2.3437 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3436 |
| 3.59 yr (1,311 d) | |
| 164.80° | |
| 0° 16m 28.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 21.874° |
| 203.76° | |
| 247.63° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.6692 AU (261 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 6.33±1.08 km[5][6] 8.07±0.17 km[7] 8.19±1.64 km[8] | |
| 8.066±0.007 h[4][a] | |
| 0.200[8] 0.208[7] 0.28[5][6] | |
| S (assumed)[4] | |
| 12.80[5][6][7][8] 12.9[3][4] | |
Orbit and classification
editMisterrogers is a member of the Mars-crossing asteroids, a dynamically unstable group between the main belt and the near-Earth populations, crossing the orbit of Mars at 1.66 AU.[1] It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.5–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,311 days; semi-major axis of 2.34 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.34 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic.[3]
The asteroid was first observed as 1952 SU at the Goethe Link Observatory in September 1952. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery published by the Digitized Sky Survey, taken at Palomar in May 1990, almost 3 years prior to its official discovery observation.[1]
Naming
editThis minor planet was named after Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003), who was the host of the children's television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for more than 30 years.[1] The naming was proposed, and citation prepared, by Dr. John G. Radzilowicz, Director of the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium & Observatory at the Kamin Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[9] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on May 1, 2003 (M.P.C. 48396).[10]
Rogers had a lifelong fascination with the sky and astronomy, obtained a pilot's license while still in high school[11] and also produced with the Kamin Science Center a planetarium show called The Sky above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,[12] which is still shown at many planetaria across the United States.[13]
Physical characteristics
editMisterrogers is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid. In line with the body's determined albedo (see below).[4]
Rotation period
editIn April 2011, a rotational lightcurve of Misterrogers was obtained from photometric observations by Brian A. Skiff at Anderson Mesa Station. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 8.066±0.007 hours with a brightness variation of 0.13 magnitude (U=3).[a] A low brightness amplitude is indicative for a spherical rather than elongated shape.
Diameter and albedo
editAccording to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Misterrogers measures 6.33 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.28.[5][6] However, a WISE-study dedicated to Mars-crossing asteroids in 2017 determined a larger diameter of 8.19 kilometers with an albedo of 0.20.[8] The Japanese Akari satellite found a diameter of 8.07 km and an albedo of 0.208,[7] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a stony asteroid of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 7.82 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.9.[4]
Sizable Mars-crosser
editWith a diameter of 8.2 kilometers, Misterrogers is a sizable Mars-crosser of which two dozens or so are known (5–15 km). These include 3581 Alvarez (13.7 km) 1065 Amundsenia (9.8 km), 1139 Atami (9.4 km), 3737 Beckman (14.4 km), 1474 Beira (15.5 km), 5682 Beresford (7.3 km), 7505 Furusho (10.0 km) 7369 Gavrilin (5.5 km), 1011 Laodamia (7.4 km), 6170 Levasseur (5.7 km), 1727 Mette (5.4 km), 1131 Porzia (7.1 km), 985 Rosina (8.2 km), 1235 Schorria (5.6 km), 1310 Villigera (15.2 km), and 1468 Zomba (7 km), which are themselves smaller than the largest members of this dynamical group, namely, 132 Aethra, 323 Brucia (former Mars-crosser), 1508 Kemi, 2204 Lyyli and 512 Taurinensis, all larger than 20 kilometers.
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "26858 Misterrogers (1993 FR)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "Asteroid 26858 Misterrogers". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 26858 Misterrogers (1993 FR)" (2018-05-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g "LCDB Data for (26858) Misterrogers". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ 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. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; Kramer, E. A.; Masiero, J. R.; et al. (June 2016). "NEOWISE Diameters and Albedos V1.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 247: EAR-A-COMPIL-5-NEOWISEDIAM-V1.0. Bibcode:2016PDSS..247.....M. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d Usui, 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)
- ^ a b c d Alí-Lagoa, V.; Delbo', M. (July 2017). "Sizes and albedos of Mars-crossing asteroids from WISE/NEOWISE data". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 603: 8. arXiv:1705.10263. Bibcode:2017A&A...603A..55A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629917.
- ^ Ryan, Joal (2 May 2003). "Mister Rogers, the Asteroid". Eonline. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ Kimmel, Margaret Mary; Collins, Mark (September 2008). "THE WONDER OF IT ALL: Fred Rogers and the Story of an Icon" (PDF). Retrieved 19 November 2018.
Allen taught Fred to fly in a little Piper Cub when Fred was in high school
- ^ "The Sky Above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "The Sky Above Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". Kamin Science Center. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
External links
edit- Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
- Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
- Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (25001)-(30000) – Minor Planet Center
- 26858 Misterrogers at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 26858 Misterrogers at the JPL Small-Body Database
