68th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2005) 5018.pdf ASTEROID (15146) HALPOV - A FAST ROTATOR. Hal Povenmire and Bruce Gary Florida Institute of Technology 215 Osage Drive Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937 and 5320 E. Calle Manzana Hereford, AZ 85615 At Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, there is a program for discovering Comets and Near Earth Asteroids. The 30" Schmidt used in this survey is located at Anderson Mesa about 10 miles southeast of Flagstaff. This program is called "Lowell Observatory Near Earth Asteroid Search" (LONEAS). On March 11, 2000, a seven mile diameter asteroid was discovered in a nearly circular orbit in the outer part of the main belt. It was given the preliminary designation 2000 EQ130. On March 6, 2004, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and Minor Planet Center approved the designation (15146) HALPOV suggested by Dr. Ted Bowell, director of the LONEAS project. This was to acknowledge the long term work on Georgia tektites, lunar grazing occultations and asteroidal-stellar occultations by Hal Povenmire. Prediscovery images were found dating back to 1996. Asteroid (15146) HALPOV has now been observed on seven oppositions and the orbit is securely known. It was last observed on April 7, 2005. The orbital elements of this typical main belt asteroid are as follows: The orbital period is 4.79 years or approximately 1749 days. The nearly circular orbit has an eccentricity of only 0.0685601. The inclination is very low, only 2.92758 degrees. The semi-major axis is approximately 2.8428418 A.U. The argument of perihelion is approximately 196.39975 degrees. The longitude of the ascending node is approximately 133.03544 degrees. The perihelion is 2.6438 and the aphelion is 3.038 A.U.'s. The slope parameter is 0.15, M=173.16100 degrees. Retired NASA-JPL scientist, Bruce Gary observed this asteroid during the April 2005 oppostition from his private observatory near Hereford, AZ. His data follows: The absolute magnitude or (H) is aproximately 14.16. If this is a C type asteroid, then the albedo is about .04 and the diameter is approximately 11 km. The shape is not spherical as there is a magnitude variation of 0.13. The preliminary value of the B- V=0.54 +/-0.06. The preliminary rotational period is 3.86 hours. The average is approximately 7.0 hours. There is no indication of this asteroid being a binary. This data was obtained at a distant opposition where the magnitude was approximately +18.5. At more favorable oppositions, the magnitude may be as bright as +17.0. Regardless of what classification this asteroid is, it would be classified as a fast rotator. References: (1) Gary, Bruce (2004) CCD Photometry of Asteroid (12753) Povenmire Minor Planet Bulletin 31 pp. 56- 57. (2) Minor Planet Circular - IAU March 6, 2004. .