2675 Tolkien

2675 Tolkien, provisional designation Template:Mp, is a stony Florian asteroid and extremely slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately Template:Convert in diameter. It was discovered on 14 April 1982, by British astronomer Martin Watt at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, and later named for J. R. R. Tolkien.<ref name="springer" /><ref name="MPC-Tolkien" />

Orbit and classification

Tolkien is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of Template:Convert once every 3 years and 3 months (1,202 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata" />

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Tolkien is a stony S-type asteroid.<ref name="jpldata" />

Rotation period

In February 2011, photometric observations of Tolkien were taken over the course of twenty-three nights. The obtained light curve revealed that the body is potentially an extremely slow rotator, that has an outstandingly long rotation period of Template:Val hours, or 44 days, with a brightness amplitude of Template:Val magnitude (Template:Small).<ref name="Durkee-2011e" /> In addition, the body is suspected to be in a non-principal axis rotation ("tumbling").<ref name="lcdb" />

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the body measures Template:Convert, and its surface has an albedo of 0.205 and 0.213, respectively,<ref name="AKARI" /><ref name="Masiero-2012" /> while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of Template:Convert with an absolute magnitude of 12.2.<ref name="lcdb" />

Naming

This minor planet was named in honour of J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), an English writer, philologist, and Merton professor of English language at the University of Oxford. He is best known as the author of the fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien also had a lifelong interest in astronomy.<ref name="springer" /> The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 December 1982 (Template:Small).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" />

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Template:Webarchive)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• Template:AstDys
• Template:JPL small body