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7959 Alysecherri, provisional designation 1994 PK, is a bright, stony Hungaria asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 August 1994, by American astronomer Carl Hergenrother at Steward Observatory's Catalina Station on Mt Bigelow near Tucson, Arizona. The asteroid was named for the discoverer's wife, Alyse Cherri.

Orbit and classification

The E-type asteroid is a member of the Hungaria family, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.1 AU once every 2 years and 9 months (989 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1951, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 43 years prior to its discovery.

Physical characteristics

A rotational lightcurve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made by American astronomer Brian Warner at the U.S. Palmer Divide Observatory, Colorado, in July 2013. It gave a rotation period of 3.161±0.005 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.13 in magnitude (U=2). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.30 and calculates a diameter of 3.05 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.5.

Naming

This minor planet is named after the maiden name of the discovering astronomer's wife, Alyse Cherri Smith. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 13 November 2008 (M.P.C. 64311).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 7959 Alysecherri (1994 PK)" (2017-03-19 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
2. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (7959) Alysecherri. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 610. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (7959) Alysecherri". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 14 May 2016.
4. ^ Warner, Brian D. (January 2014). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2013 June- September". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 41 (1): 27–32. Bibcode:2014MPBu...41...27W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
5. Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. S2CID 53493339. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
6. ^ "7959 Alysecherri (1994 PK)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
7. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 14 May 2016.

External links

• The Palmer Divide Observatory: Tour given by Brian Warner on YouTube (time 4:03 min.)
• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (5001)-(10000) – Minor Planet Center
• 7959 Alysecherri at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 7959 Alysecherri at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Hungaria asteroids
• Discoveries by Carl W. Hergenrother
• Named minor planets
• E-type asteroids (Tholen)
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1994