3552 Don Quixote
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox planet
3552 Don Quixote, provisionally designated Template:Mp, is an exceptionally eccentric asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Amor group, Mars-crosser and Jupiter-crosser, as well as a weakly active comet.
Discovery and naming
The asteroid was discovered on 26 September 1983, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory near Bern, Switzerland.<ref name="MPC-Don Quixote" /> It was named after the comic knight who is the eponymous hero of CervantesTemplate:' Spanish novel Don Quixote (1605).<ref name="springer" /> The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 December 1990 (Template:Small).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" />
Orbit and characteristics
Don Quixote is characterized as a dark D-type asteroid in the Tholen and SMASS taxonomy.<ref name="jpldata" />
It has a highly inclined comet-like orbit of 31 degrees that leads to frequent perturbations by Jupiter.<ref name="jpl-close" /> Don Quixote measures 18.4 kilometres in diameter and has a rotation period of 7.7 hours.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="Mommert-2014" />
Due to its comet-like orbit and albedo, Don Quixote has been suspected to be an extinct comet.<ref name="Lupishko-2000" /> However, infrared observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope at 4.5 μm revealed a faint coma and tail around the object.<ref name="Mommert-2014" /> The cometary activity is inferred by carbon dioxide (Template:CO2) molecular band emission. In March 2018 a tail was observed at visible wavelengths for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The observation of cometary features during two apparitions suggests that cometary activity is recurrent and Don Quixote is most likely a weakly active comet.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Notes
References
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:NeoDys
- Template:JPL small body
Template:Minor planets navigator Template:Small Solar System bodies Template:Authority control