4440 Tchantchès, provisional designation 1984 YV, is a rather elongated Hungaria asteroid and a possible binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter.

4440 Tchantchès
Discovery [1]
Discovered byF. Dossin
Discovery siteHaute-Provence Obs.
Discovery date23 December 1984
Designations
4440 Tchantchès
Named after
Tchantchès
(Belgian folklore figure)[2]
1984 YV
main-belt · (inner)[1]
Hungaria[3][4][5]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc32.24 yr (11,775 days)
Aphelion2.0694 AU
Perihelion1.7731 AU
1.9212 AU
Eccentricity0.0771
2.66 yr (973 days)
60.453°
0° 22m 12.36s / day
Inclination21.349°
283.33°
225.01°
Known satellites1 (possible)[6][7][5]
Physical characteristics
Dimensions2.093±0.586 km[8][9]
4.42 km (calculated)[4]
2.783 h[10]
2.788 h[11][12]
2.7883 h[13][14]
2.78836±0.00004 h[6]
2.7884±0.0001 h[7]
2.7886±0.0002 h[7]
2.789±0.001 h[15]
2.790±0.002 h[10][a]
6.83±0.1 h (wrong)[16]
0.3 (assumed)[4]
1.000±0.063[8][9]
E[4][8]
13.3[8] · 13.7[1][4] · 13.83±0.24[17] · 13.930±0.002 (R)[12] · 14.0±0.2[13]

It was discovered on 23 December 1984, by astronomer François Dossin at Haute-Provence Observatory in France[3] and named after the Belgian folklore character Tchantchès.[2] It is possibly orbited by a sub-kilometer sized minor-planet moon every 15 hours.

Orbit an classification

edit

Tchantchès is a member of the Hungaria family, a group which forms the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.1 AU once every 2 years and 8 months (973 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 21° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation as no precoveries were taken, and no prior identifications were made.[3]

Physical characteristics

edit

Tchantchès has been characterized as a bright E-type asteroid by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.[8]

Lightcurves

edit

Between 2002 and 2014, numerous rotational lightcurves of Tchantchès had been obtained from photometric observations by American astronomer Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado.[6][7][10][11][13][14][a] Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 2.7883 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.21 and 0.34 magnitude (U=3/3/3-).[4] Assuming an equatorial view on a simple triaxial ellipsoid, Warner estimates the body's shape to be elongated by 30% (a/b ratio of 1.3:1).[6]

Other lightcurves with a concurring period were obtained by French amateur astronomer Bernard Christophe in October 2002, and at the Palomar Transient Factory in California in July 2010 (U=2/2).[12][15]

Diameter and albedo

edit

According to the survey carried out by NASA's NEOWISE mission, Tchantchès measures 2.093 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an outstandingly high albedo of 1.000,[8][9] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.30 – a compromise value between 0.4 and 0.2, corresponding to the Hungaria asteroids both as family and orbital group – and calculates a diameter of 4.42 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.7.[4]

Binary system

edit

In 2013, reviewing the photometric data obtained in October 2005, Brian Warner found evidence that Tchantchès is possibly an asynchronous binary asteroid. Attenuations seen in the revised lightcurve indicated mutual occultations and eclipses events caused by a minor-planet moon orbiting Tchantchès. The satellite has an orbital period of 15.35 hours (2014 publication),[4] and diameter of at least 25% of that of its primary.[6][11] The Johnston's archive derives a satellite diameter of 510 meters and estimates a semi-major axis of 3.8 kilometers for its orbit.[5]

Naming

edit

This minor planet was named after the popular folklore character Tchantchès (Walloon for François) in the French-speaking part of Belgium, where the discoverer François Dossin lives. Tchantchès lived during Charlemagne's times in the early Middle Ages. The stubborn boy with a great heart is nowadays depicted as a folkloric marionette. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 8 December 1998 (M.P.C. 33385).[2][18]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b Lightcurve plot of 4440 Tchantches by B. D. Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory (2010): rotation period 2.790±0.001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.28±0.02 mag. Summary figures at Lightcurve Database (LCDB)

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 4440 Tchantches (1984 YV)" (2017-03-20 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(4440) Tchantchès". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (4440) Tchantchès. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 382. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_4388. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. ^ a b c "4440 Tchantches (1984 YV)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "LCDB Data for (4440) Tchantchès". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Johnston, Robert (21 September 2014). "(4440) Tchantches". johnstonsarchive.net. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e Warner, Brian D. (July 2013). "Something Old, Something New: Three Binary Discoveries from the Palmer Divide Observatory". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 40 (3): 119–121. Bibcode:2013MPBu...40..119W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Warner, Brian D. (April 2014). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2013 September–December". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 41 (2): 102–112. Bibcode:2014MPBu...41..102W. ISSN 1052-8091. PMID 32549045. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e f 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.
  9. ^ a b c 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 1 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b c Warner, Brian D. (January 2011). "Lightcurve Analysis at the Palmer Divide Observatory: 2010 June–September". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 38 (1): 25–31. Bibcode:2011MPBu...38...25W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Warner, Brian D. (July 2014). "Asteroid Lightcurve Analysis at CS3-Palmer Divide Station: 2014 January–March". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 41 (3): 144–155. Bibcode:2014MPBu...41..144W. ISSN 1052-8091. PMID 32549049. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  12. ^ a b c Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  13. ^ a b c Warner, Brian D.; Pravec, Petr; Kusnirák, Peter; Foote, Cindy; Foote, Jerry; Galád, Adrián; et al. (June 2006). "Lightcurves analysis for Hungaria asteroids 3854 George, 4440 Tchantches and 4674 Pauling". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 33 (2): 34–35. Bibcode:2006MPBu...33...34W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  14. ^ a b Warner, Brian D.; Higgins, David (July 2009). "Lightcurve Analysis of Hungaria Asteroid 4440 Tchantches". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 36 (3): 90. Bibcode:2009MPBu...36...90W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  15. ^ a b Behrend, Raoul. "Asteroids and comets rotation curves – (4440) Tchantchès". Geneva Observatory. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  16. ^ Warner, Brian D. (December 2002). "Lightcurve analysis for asteroids 607 Jenny, 1177 Gonnessia 4440 Tchantches, 4896 Tomoegozen, and (4995) 1984 QR". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 30 (2): 33–35. Bibcode:2003MPBu...30...33W. ISSN 1052-8091. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  17. ^ 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. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  18. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
edit