6181 Bobweber

Orbit and classification

The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,384 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1954, which extended the asteroid's observation arc by 32 years prior to its discovery observation.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

A rotational lightcurve of Bobweber was obtained from photometric observations by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory in December 2009. It gave a well-defined rotation period of hours with a brightness variation of 0.12 in magnitude (). In January 2014, astronomer Julian Oey at the Australian Blue Mountains Observatory (Q68) obtained a nearly identical period of hours with an amplitude of 0.15 magnitude ().

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Bobweber measures 4.5 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.42 and 0.43, respectively, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 5.7 kilometers.

Naming

This minor planet was named in memory of Robert Weber (1926–2008), physicist and discoverer of minor planets at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, developer of the Deep Space Satellite Tracking Network. He also co-developed and was credited with the first discoveries made by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site at White Sands Missile Range in Socorro, New Mexico. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 21 March 2008 (M.P.C. 62353).

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