3673 Levy

Classification and orbit

The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. Levy orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,312 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as "" at Crimea–Nauchnij in 1969, extending its observation arc by 16 years prior to the official discovery observation.

Lightcurve

In December 2007, astronomers from the U.S. Carbuncle Hill Observatory (I00) in Rhode Island, the Czech Ondřejov Observatory, and the Californian Goat Mountain Astronomical Research Station (G79) obtained a rotational lightcurve showing Levy to turn on its axis every 2.688 hours. The low brightness variation of 0.13 magnitude indicates that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape (). During the photometric observations, it was also discovered that Levy is a binary asteroid, orbited every 21.67 hours by a satellite, which approximately measures % of Levys diameter (1.8 kilometer).

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Levy measures between 5.80 and 6.47 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.234 and 0.398. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the revised WISE-results by Pravec and adopts an albedo of 0.2341 and a diameter of 6.47 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.14.

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Canadian astronomer David H. Levy (b. 1948), a discoverer of minor planets and comets and a highly committed observer, who uses a large repertoire of observational techniques. He is also an educator and author, known for his biographies of astronomers and for his launched educational programs, bringing observational astronomy to the broader public. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 April 1988 (M.P.C. 12974).

He is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. He has discovered 22 comets, nine of them using his own backyard telescopes. With Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California he discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. That episode produced the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed in the Solar System. Levy is currently involved with the Jarnac Comet Survey, which is based at the Jarnac Observatory (G92) in Vail, Arizona, but which has telescopes planned for locations around the world.

Notes

observations obtained during 5–9 December 2007, show that is a binary system with an orbital period of 21.6 hours. The primary has a period of hours, and it has a lightcurve brightness variation of 0.13 magnitude, indicative of a nearly spheroidal shape. Mutual eclipse/occultation events suggest a secondary-to-primary mean-diameter ratio of . further observations are required to refined the binary system's parameters. Reported by: D. Pray, Carbuncle Hill Observatory, Greene, RI, U.S.A.; P. Pravec and P. Kusnirak, Ondrejov Observatory; and R. Stephens, Goat Mountain Astronomical Research Station, Yucca Valley, CA, U.S.A. Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams No. 1165}}

References