4065 Meinel

4065 Meinel, provisional designation Template:Mp, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, California.<ref name="MPC-Meinel" /> The asteroid was named for American astronomer Aden Meinel.<ref name="springer" />

Orbit and classification

The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt.Template:Citation needed It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,247 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata" /> A first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1953, extending MeinelTemplate:'s observation arc by 7 years prior to its discovery.<ref name="MPC-Meinel" />

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Meinel measures 3.87 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.270.<ref name="Masiero-2011" /> As of 2016, the asteroid's composition, shape and rotation period remains unknown.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="lcdb" />

Diameter and albedo

The survey designation "P-L" stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar 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 minor planets.<ref name="MPC-discoverers" />

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of the American physicist and astronomer Aden Meinel (1922–2011).<ref name="springer" /> The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 February 1992 (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