2934 Aristophanes

2934 Aristophanes Template:IPAc-en, provisional designation Template:Mp, is a carbonaceous Veritasian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and later named after ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes.

Discovery

Aristophanes was discovered on 25 September 1960, by Dutch astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory, California, United States.<ref name="MPC-object" />

Palomar–Leiden survey

The survey designation Template:Mp stands for "Palomar–Leiden", named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand asteroids.<ref name="MPC-discoverers" />

Orbit and classification

Aristophanes is a member of the Veritas family (Template:Small),<ref name="Ferret" /> a young family of carbonaceous asteroids, that formed approximately Template:Val million years ago. The family is named after 490 Veritas and consists of nearly 1,300 members.<ref name="Nesvorny-2014" />Template:Rp

It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 8 months (2,062 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata" /> The body's observation arc begins at Palomar, the night prior to its official discovery observation.<ref name="MPC-object" />

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Aristophanes is a Ch-type,<ref name="jpldata" /> a hydrated subtype of the carbonaceous C-type asteroid with absorption features at 0.7 μm.<ref name="Bus-2002" />

Rotation period

As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Aristophanes has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid's rotation period, shape and poles remain unknown.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="lcdb" />

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Aristophanes measures 21.941 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.110.<ref name="Masiero-2011" />

Naming

This minor planet was named after Aristophanes (445–385 B.C.), a Greek comic playwright of ancient Athens.<ref name="springer" /> The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 29 September 1985 (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