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4340 Dence

Main-belt asteroid

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
name	4340 Dence
background	#D6D6D6
discovery_ref
discoverer	C. Shoemaker
discovery_site	Palomar Obs.
discovered	4 May 1986
mpc_name	(4340) Dence
alt_names	1986 JZ
1986 LN
named_after	Michael R. Dence
(Canadian geologist)
mp_category	main-belt(inner)
backgroundPhocaea
orbit_ref
epoch	23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
uncertainty	0
observation_arc	38.28 yr (13,983 d)
aphelion	2.9475 AU
perihelion	1.8408 AU
semimajor	2.3941 AU
eccentricity	0.2311
period	3.70 yr (1,353 d)
mean_anomaly	212.55°
mean_motion	/ day
inclination	25.155°
asc_node	81.012°
arg_peri	175.79°
mean_diameter
8.37 km (calculated)
rotation
(poor)
albedo
(assumed)
spectral_type	SMASS S
abs_magnitude	12.6
13.1

1986 LN (Canadian geologist) backgroundPhocaea 8.37 km (calculated)

(poor) (assumed)

13.1

4340 Dence, provisional designation , is a background or Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 km in diameter. It was discovered on 4 May 1986, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 7.5 hours. It was named after Canadian geologist Michael R. Dence.

Orbit and classification

Dence is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. Based on osculating Keplerian orbital elements, the asteroid has also been classified as a member of the stony Phocaea family (701). It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,353 days; semi-major axis of 2.39 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 25° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at the Siding Spring Observatory in November 1979, more than six years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.

Physical characteristics

In the SMASS classification, Dence is a common, stony S-type asteroid.

Rotation period

Since 2008, several rotational lightcurves of Dence have been obtained from photometric observations by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec and by Maurice Clark at the observatory of the Montgomery College in Maryland, United States (). Analysis of the best-rated lightcurve gave a rotation period of 7.546 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.58 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Dence measures 8.110 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.155, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23 – derived from 25 Phocaea, the parent body of the Phocaea family – and calculates a diameter of 8.37 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.6.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Canadian geologist Michael R. Dence executive director of the Royal Society of Canada. He was a pioneer in the geologic investigation of ancient impact craters on the Canadian Shield (also see Sudbury Basin and Manicouagan Reservoir). The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 30 January 1991 (M.P.C. 17656).

Notes

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

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background-asteroids discoveries-by-carolyn-s.-shoemaker named-minor-planets s-type-asteroids-(smass) astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1986

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