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3688 Navajo, provisional designation 1981 FD, is a Griqua asteroid and a 2:1 Jupiter librator on an eccentric, cometary-like orbit from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 30 March 1981, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona. The dark P-type asteroid was named for the Native American Navajo people.

Orbit and classification

Navajo is an asteroid in a cometary orbit (ACO), with no observable coma but with a Tisserand's parameter just below the defined the threshold of 3.0. ACO's may be extinct comets. It is a member of the small dynamical Griqua group, a marginally unstable group of asteroids observed in the Hecuba gap, a 2:1 resonant zone with the gas giant Jupiter. The group is named after its largest member, 1362 Griqua.

Navajo is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the outermost asteroid belt at a distance of 1.7–4.8 AU once every 5 years and 9 months (2,112 days; semi-major axis of 3.22 AU). Its orbit has a high eccentricity of 0.48 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Siding Spring Observatory, just weeks before its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.

Physical characteristics

Navajo has been characterized as a dark and primitive P-type asteroid. It has an absolute magnitude of 15.1. As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of Navajo has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Navajo measures 6.086 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.047.

Naming

This minor planet was named after the indigenous North American Navajo people, inhabitants of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah in the Southwestern United States. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 April 1988 (M.P.C. 12975).

References

1. ^ "3688 Navajo (1981 FD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
2. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 3688 Navajo (1981 FD)" (2017-07-04 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
3. ^ Roig, F.; Nesvorný, D.; Ferraz-Mello, S. (September 2002). "Asteroids in the 2 : 1 resonance with Jupiter: dynamics and size distribution" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 335 (2): 417–431. Bibcode:2002MNRAS.335..417R. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05635.x. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
4. ^ "Asteroid 3688 Navajo". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
5. ^ Licandro, J.; Alvarez-Candal, A.; de León, J.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Lazzaro, D.; Campins, H. (April 2008). "Spectral properties of asteroids in cometary orbits" (PDF). Astronomy and Astrophysics. 481 (3): 861–877. Bibcode:2008A&A...481..861L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078340. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
6. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
7. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

External links

• Asteroids in Cometary Orbits (ACOs), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 3688 Navajo at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 3688 Navajo at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Griqua asteroids
• Background asteroids
• Discoveries by Edward L. G. Bowell
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1981