Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | E. Helin |
Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
Discovery date | 13 March 1988 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | 4222 Nancita |
Named after
|
Nancy Coker Helin (discoverer's family) |
1988 EK1 · 1950 TF4 1952 HN · 1968 QL1 1972 XQ1 · 1979 SL6 1983 XC1 · 1988 KL |
|
main-belt · (inner) | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch 16 February 2017 (JD 2457800.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 48.20 yr (17,605 days) |
Aphelion | 3.0652 AU |
Perihelion | 1.6699 AU |
2.3675 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.2947 |
3.64 yr (1,331 days) | |
50.752° | |
0° 16m 14.16s / day | |
Inclination | 3.7404° |
206.86° | |
217.52° | |
Earth MOID | 0.6853 AU |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions |
±0.8 km ( 8.47IRAS:11) ±0.71 km 9.14 ±0.121 9.636 ±0.215 km 9.707 |
±0.0003 3.8732h | |
±0.0073 0.2057 ±0.013 0.209 ±0.038 0.232 ±0.061 (IRAS:11) 0.2703 |
|
SMASS = S · S | |
12.3 · 12.4 | |
4222 Nancita, provisional designation 1988 EK1, is an eccentric, stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at the U.S Palomar Observatory, California, on 13 March 1988. It will become a Mars-crossing asteroid in June 2019.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,331 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.29 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was obtained at Crimea–Nauchnij in 1968, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 20 years prior to its discovery.
A photometric light-curve analysis at the Australian Hunters Hill Observatory and collaborating stations in 2006 rendered a rotation period of 3.87 hours with a high brightness amplitude of 0.97 in magnitude. According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 8.5 and 9.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo in the range of 0.21 to 0.27. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link gives preference to the results obtained by IRAS.