15094 Polymele

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15094 Polymele
15094 Polymele Hubble.jpg
Polymele imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018
Discovery [1]
Discovered byCSS
Discovery siteMount Lemmon Obs.
Discovery date17 November 1999
Designations
(15094) Polymele
Pronunciation/pɒlɪˈmiːliː/[4]
Named after
Polymele
(Greek mythology)[1]
1999 WB2 · 1997 WR57
Minor planet category
Jupiter trojan [1][2]
(Greek camp)[3]
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc24.10 yr (8,803 d)
Aphelion5.6537 AU
Perihelion4.6781 AU
5.1659 AU
Eccentricity0.0944
11.74 yr (4,289 d)
253.43°
0° 5m 2.04s / day
Inclination12.990°
50.318°
4.6684°
Jupiter MOID0.2252 AU
TJupiter2.9400
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
21.075±0.136 km[5][6]
5.8607±0.0005 h[7]
0.073[7]
0.091[5][6][8]
P [9]
B–V = 0.652±0.065[10]
V–R = 0.477±0.065[10]
V–I = 0.799±0.068[10]
Absolute magnitude (H)
11.60[1][2][6][8][11]
11.691±0.002 (S/R)[7]

15094 Polymele /pɒlɪˈmiːliː/ is a primitive Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 21 kilometers (13 miles) in diameter. It is a target of the Lucy mission with a close fly by planned to occur in September 2027.[9][12] It was discovered on 17 November 1999, by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, in the United States. The P-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.9 hours and possibly a spherical shape.[11] It was named after Polymele from Greek mythology, the wife of Menoetius and the mother of Patroclus.[1]

Orbit and classification[]

Polymele is a Jupiter trojan (or Jovian asteroid) orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit (see Trojans in astronomy). It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.7–5.7 AU once every 11 years and 9 months (4,289 days; semi-major axis of 5.17 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The asteroid's observation arc begins 48 years prior to its official discovery observation at Mount Lemmon, with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in 1951, and published by the Digitized Sky Survey later on.[1]

Naming[]

This minor planet was named after Polymele, the daughter of Peleus from Greek mythology. According to the Latin author Gaius Julius Hyginus (c. 64 BC – AD 17), she is the wife of the Argonaut Menoetius and the mother of Patroclus, who participated in the Trojan War.[1] Polymele is also known as "Philomela"; that name was previously used for the asteroid 196 Philomela. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 February 2016 (M.P.C. 98711).[13]

Lucy mission target[]

Polymele is planned to be visited by the Lucy spacecraft which will launch in 2021. The fly by is scheduled for 15 September 2027, and will approach the asteroid to a distance of 415 kilometers at a velocity of 6 kilometers per second.[9]

Physical characteristics[]

Polymele has been characterized as a primitive P-type asteroid by the investigators of the Lucy mission.[9] P-type asteroids are known for their low albedo. It has a V–I color index of 0.799,[10] which is lower than that for most larger Jupiter trojans (see table below).

Diameter and albedo[]

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Polymele measures 21.075 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.091,[5][6][8] while in 2018, Marc Buie published an albedo of 0.073 and an absolute magnitude of 11.691 in the S- and/or R band.[7] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a larger diameter of 26.64 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.6.[11]

Lightcurves[]

In March 2016, a rotational lightcurve of Polymele was obtained from photometric observations by Marc Buie and colleges. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 5.8607±0.0005 hours with a small brightness amplitude of 0.09±0.03 magnitude (U=2-), which indicates that the body has a spheroidal shape.[7] Previously, the Lucy mission team published spin rates of 6.1 and 4 hours, respectively.[9][12]

100+ largest Jupiter trojans

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "15094 Polymele (1999 WB2)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 15094 Polymele (1999 WB2)" (2015-06-10 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  3. ^ "List of Jupiter Trojans". Minor Planet Center. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  4. ^ 'Polymela' in Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Masiero, J. R.; Nugent, C. R. (November 2012). "WISE/NEOWISE Observations of the Jovian Trojan Population: Taxonomy". The Astrophysical Journal. 759 (1): 10. arXiv:1209.1549. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759...49G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/759/1/49. S2CID 119101711. (online catalog)
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; Kramer, E. A.; Masiero, J. R.; et al. (June 2016). "NEOWISE Diameters and Albedos V1.0". NASA Planetary Data System: EAR-A-COMPIL-5-NEOWISEDIAM-V1.0. Bibcode:2016PDSS..247.....M. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Buie, Marc W.; Zangari, Amanda M.; Marchi, Simone; Levison, Harold F.; Mottola, Stefano (June 2018). "Light Curves of Lucy Targets: Leucus and Polymele" (PDF). The Astronomical Journal. 155 (6): 11. Bibcode:2018AJ....155..245B. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aabd81. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. S2CID 118700974. (catalog)
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Levison, H. F.; Olkin, C.; Noll, K. S.; Marchi, S.; Lucy Team (March 2017). "Lucy: Surveying the Diversity of the Trojan Asteroids: The Fossils of Planet Formation" (PDF). 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (1964): 2025. Bibcode:2017LPI....48.2025L. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hainaut, O. R.; Boehnhardt, H.; Protopapa, S. (October 2012). "Colours of minor bodies in the outer solar system. II. A statistical analysis revisited". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 546: 20. arXiv:1209.1896. Bibcode:2012A&A...546A.115H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219566. S2CID 54776793.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c "LCDB Data for (15094) Polymele". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Buie, Marc W.; Zangari, Amanda Marie; Marchi, Simone; Mottola, Stefano; Levison, Harold F. (October 2016). "Ground-based characterization of Leucus and Polymele, two fly-by targets of the Lucy Discovery mission". American Astronomical Society. 48: 208.06. Bibcode:2016DPS....4820806B.
  13. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 8 March 2018.

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