THE MINOR PLANET BULLETIN OF THE MINOR PLANETS SECTION OF THE BULLETIN ASSOCIATION OF LUNAR AND PLANETARY OBSERVERS VOLUME 33, NUMBER 1, A.D. 2006 JANUARY-MARCH 1. LIGHTCURVE AND ROTATION PERIOD Observatory (Observatory code 926) near Nogales, Arizona. The DETERMINATION FOR MINOR PLANET 4006 SANDLER observatory is located at an altitude of 1312 meters and features a 0.81 m F7 Ritchey-Chrétien telescope and a SITe 1024 x 1024 x Matthew T. Vonk 24 micron CCD. Observations were conducted on (UT dates) Daniel J. Kopchinski January 29, February 7, 8, 2005. A total of 37 unfiltered images Amanda R. Pittman with exposure times of 120 seconds were analyzed using Canopus. Stephen Taubel The lightcurve, shown in the figure below, indicates a period of Department of Physics 3.40 ± 0.01 hours and an amplitude of 0.16 magnitude. University of Wisconsin – River Falls 410 South Third Street Acknowledgements River Falls, WI 54022 [email protected] Thanks to Michael Schwartz and Paulo Halvorcem for their great work at Tenagra Observatory. (Received: 25 July) References Minor planet 4006 Sandler was observed during January Schmadel, L. D. (1999). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. and February of 2005. The synodic period was Springer: Berlin, Germany. 4th Edition. measured and determined to be 3.40 ± 0.01 hours with an amplitude of 0.16 magnitude. Warner, B. D. and Alan Harris, A. (2004) “Potential Lightcurve Targets 2005 January – March”, www.minorplanetobserver.com/ astlc/targets_1q_2005.htm Minor planet 4006 Sandler was discovered by the Russian astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova in 1972. (Schmadel, 1999) It orbits the sun with an orbit that varies between 2.058 AU and 2.975 AU which locates it in the heart of the main asteroid belt. The asteroid was chosen from a list of suggested targets provided by the CALL website (Warner 2004). Sandler was observed during the spring of 2005 by three University of Wisconsin—River Falls students (Kopchinski, Pittman, Taubel) and a professor (Vonk) utilizing the Tenagra EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW MPB ASSISTANT EDITOR NAMED With the increase in the number of articles received and the commensurate slowing in turnaround time by the Editor, the need for an Assistant Editor has become apparent. On behalf of the Minor Planets Section Recorder and the staff of the Minor Planet Bulletin, it is a pleasure to announce the appointment of Brian D. Warner to the position of Assistant Editor. As the title suggests, Warner will assist the Editor with the processing and review of submitted manuscripts. All submitted manuscripts and editorial correspondence should continue to be addressed to the Editor. Please join in thanking Brian for taking on this new role for the benefit of the Minor Planet Bulletin and its readers. Minor Planet Bulletin 33 (2006) Available on line http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/mpb/default.htm 2 CLOSE MUTUAL APPROACHES OF The table gives the following data: MINOR PLANETS IN 2006 1. Date: date and time of closest geocentric approach (in U.T.). All other information is given for this instant. Edwin Goffin 2. Closest approach: gives the minimum geocentric distance (in Aartselaarstraat 14 seconds of arc) and the position angle (in degrees) of the nearest B-2660 Hoboken (Antwerpen) minor planet with respect to the farthest one. Belgium 3. Minor planet 1: information on the nearest minor planet: [email protected] • number and name visual magnitude, • parallax in seconds of arc, (Received: 30 March) • apparent motion in seconds of arc per hour, • position angle of the direction of motion in degrees. 4. Minor planet 2: information about the farthest minor planet. Tabulated are 41 cases where one minor planet comes to The same data as for the nearest one are given. In addition the within 120" of another and both are magnitude 16 or right ascension and declination (2000) are printed. brighter. A challenge for minor planet observers! 5. Sun and Moon: • elongation of the Sun in degrees, Here I present a list of close approaches between numbered minor • elongation of the Moon (degrees), planets larger than 40 km during 2006 where: • illuminated fraction of the Moon in %. • the elongation of the Sun is more than 30°, • both minor planets are brighter than visual magnitude 16, The author acknowledges the Computer Center of Agfa-Gevaert • and the minimum geocentric separation is less than 120". N.V. (Mortsel, Belgium), site of the computations. Close mutual approaches of minor planets ======================================== " 0 (Dist. < 120 ; El. Sun > 30 ; magn. < 16.0) D a t e (U.T.) Min. Pos. M i n o r p l a n e t 1 M i n o r p l a n e t 2 dist. ang. N a m e Vis. Hor. Motion N a m e Vis. Hor. Motion Right Decli- Elon- Ill. mag. par. per pos. mag. par. per pos. ascens. nation gation frac. hour ang. hour ang. (2000.0) (2000.0) Sun Moon Moon h m " 0 " "/h 0 " "/h 0 h m 0 ' 0 0 % 2006 jan 12 9 47.7 75.18 7 19 Fortuna 11.00 5.58 34.32 72 742 Edisona 14.68 3.69 18.49 45 2 31.94 +13 39.2 108 51 95 jan 22 11 56.8 19.40 22 48 Doris 12.96 2.28 52.71 71 733 Mocia 15.65 2.01 44.36 61 22 33.01 - 7 32.0 34 127 52 feb 5 3 34.8 67.61 232 11 Parthenope 11.17 4.33 13.00 54 16 Psyche 10.70 4.02 13.27 64 4 36.41 +18 37.4 114 27 48 feb 26 2 35.5 62.76 24 1119 Euboea 15.63 4.59 11.34 103 121 Hermione 13.65 2.63 2.21 5 14 33.54 - 8 08.9 118 91 6 mar 7 6 34.1 91.56 149 983 Gunila 15.26 2.86 46.14 76 1269 Rollandia 15.74 2.07 29.49 86 18 33.36 -21 12.9 68 160 54 mar 8 8 32.7 32.22 197 67 Asia 13.65 3.06 51.72 75 17 Thetis 13.39 2.86 46.05 70 3 22.99 +14 15.9 64 44 65 mar 16 8 25.8 111.41 159 569 Misa 14.95 3.35 71.13 75 43 Ariadne 13.27 2.98 58.28 76 3 04.62 +18 16.4 53 141 98 apr 3 1 13.9 8.32 358 598 Octavia 14.79 3.47 31.67 97 579 Sidonia 13.78 2.87 22.02 101 7 07.36 +30 07.7 91 37 26 may 3 10 11.0 79.91 67 15 Eunomia 10.29 3.65 32.73 64 492 Gismonda 15.02 3.54 33.24 78 20 45.62 -19 38.0 94 159 34 may 7 13 46.7 3.58 156 893 Leopoldina 15.25 2.39 59.12 78 788 Hohensteina 14.70 2.07 47.50 81 5 02.55 +11 17.4 30 86 72 may 13 9 10.8 92.37 100 337 Devosa 14.00 3.08 55.55 64 129 Antigone 12.42 2.88 49.58 76 23 31.79 - 6 15.5 61 118 99 may 20 16 48.6 70.51 334 302 Clarissa 15.88 3.01 72.42 66 24 Themis 13.46 2.14 45.90 68 1 10.23 + 7 07.7 40 45 46 ? may 31 9 45.9 1.07 68 174 Phaedra 13.87 3.27 35.11 114 774 Armor 14.48 2.85 29.38 103 10 09.53 + 5 27.3 82 32 19 may 31 16 48.6 46.09 230 524 Fidelio 15.18 2.72 64.99 102 160 Una 14.60 2.61 61.45 99 7 15.68 +25 06.0 37 23 22 jun 11 6 40.5 95.56 314 356 Liguria 13.41 3.15 62.67 63 203 Pompeja 14.53 2.94 55.32 66 1 18.01 + 8 57.6 58 126 98 jun 14 12 43.1 9.84 152 337 Devosa 13.71 3.62 45.36 63 671 Carnegia 15.94 2.79 32.28 63 0 11.13 - 1 25.6 81 63 89 jun 30 16 46.9 56.77 358 485 Genua 13.54 2.97 65.65 102 539 Pamina 15.91 2.33 44.91 108 9 52.58 + 7 13.5 49 9 24 jul 4 8 37.2 26.80 192 60 Echo 12.87 3.17 77.22 107 212 Medea 14.43 2.29 49.67 110 9 42.94 +12 17.5 41 55 56 jul 13 13 2.2 29.62 311 369 Aeria 13.27 4.02 44.75 84 667 Denise 14.70 2.96 34.55 104 1 43.07 - 4 07.1 88 62 91 aug 6 8 34.2 41.69 44 15 Eunomia 8.46 5.92 37.04 275 241 Germania 11.47 4.85 29.53 262 20 23.70 -13 58.4 169 34 86 aug 6 16 22.2 97.29 72 1258 Sicilia 15.38 3.96 17.52 273 483 Seppina 13.43 3.72 18.72 223 23 12.35 + 2 15.9 143 72 88 aug 10 9 32.2 60.91 174 1072 Malva 15.70 2.95 67.11 86 578 Happelia 15.35 2.33 45.61 87 6 05.53 +27 17.0 46 119 98 sep 9 15 30.4 81.26 212 638 Moira 14.85 2.86 73.07 115 592 Bathseba 15.63 2.13 48.19 111 13 21.87 - 2 46.0 33 173 95 sep 10 19 18.5 62.90 19 449 Hamburga 14.31 3.20 75.40 102 411 Xanthe 15.18 2.25 45.13 96 8 22.80 +20 08.9 44 93 87 sep 25 5 51.5 107.63 135 798 Ruth 15.19 2.79 46.38 100 581 Tauntonia 15.60 2.48 40.32 116 16 28.42 -14 59.6 66 36 7 sep 27 9 21.3 96.06 230 773 Irmintraud 15.14 2.29 51.27 117 33 Polyhymnia 15.04 2.00 41.10 110 10 04.77 +13 02.8 35 88 21 oct 14 19 3.8 67.43 315 206 Hersilia 12.47 5.08 31.11 245 738 Alagasta 14.80 3.93 28.50 247 0 33.96 - 1 04.8 165 112 42 oct 25 11 11.2 24.65 16 345 Tercidina 13.30 4.21 53.06 117 1243 Pamela 15.68 2.75 31.02 125 8 37.52 + 8 35.2 82 120 11 oct 31 14 35.1 44.47 328 436 Patricia 15.70 2.81 35.58 54 911 Agamemnon 15.87 1.62 17.65 49 20 14.66 -30 42.6 81 37 69 nov 12 1 5.8 24.45 260 481 Emita 14.33 2.62 52.43 110 148 Gallia 13.64 2.44 47.74 98 12 15.56 + 7 13.8 49 52 56 nov 16 8 30.5 110.66 41 1032 Pafuri 15.92 2.35 56.12 111 346 Hermentaria 13.15 2.29 52.47 110 13 22.95 - 1 13.3 34 18 18 nov 19 18 32.1 30.17 36 1268 Libya 15.54 2.43 28.51 112 279 Thule 15.63 2.05 22.39 108 10 40.67 +10 42.7 79 66 2 nov 27 16 5.3 91.49 6 767 Bondia 15.46 2.86 58.30 77 1332 Marconia 15.85 2.73 54.20 76 20 09.45 -21 55.9 54 30 44 dec 20 14 49.6 111.07 133 284 Amalia 14.08 4.91 32.31 253 522 Helga 14.44 3.35 22.99 268 4 20.59 +17 10.9 157 155 2 dec 27 20 18.8 41.29 11 329 Svea 14.94 3.06 57.75 78 34 Circe 14.38 2.62 46.54 72 22 22.92 - 8 51.3 58 35 53 Minor Planet Bulletin 33 (2006) 3 ASTEROID-DEEPSKY APPULSES IN 2006 The table gives the following data: Brian D.