4836 Medon


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4836 Medon is a large Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 68 kilometers (42 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 2 February 1989, by American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California.[1] The dark asteroid has a rotation period of 9.82 hours and belongs to the 60 largest Jupiter trojans.[4] It was named after the mythological Greek warrior Medon.[1]

4836 Medon
Discovery [1]
Discovered byC. Shoemaker
Discovery sitePalomar Obs.
Discovery date2 February 1989
Designations
(4836) Medon
Pronunciation[2]

Named after

Medon (Greek mythology)[1]
1989 CK1 · 1986 XM
Jupiter trojan [1][3][4]
Greek [5][6] · background [6]
AdjectivesMedontian
Orbital characteristics [3]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc30.91 yr (11,289 d)
Aphelion5.7686 AU
Perihelion4.6436 AU
5.2061 AU
Eccentricity0.1080
11.88 yr (4,339 d)
185.15°
0° 4m 58.8s / day
Inclination19.400°
82.050°
34.752°
Jupiter MOID0.322 AU
TJupiter2.8750
Physical characteristics
63.28±0.77 km[7]
67.73±4.7 km)[8]
78.70±3.18 km[9]
9.818±0.005 h[10][a]
9.838±0.013 h[11]
9.840±0.013 h[11]
0.045±0.004[9]
0.0610±0.009[8]
0.070±0.006[7]
C (assumed)[4]
V–I = 0.920±0.039[3]
9.35±0.43[12]
9.50[1][3][8][7][9]

Orbit and classification

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Medon is a Jovian asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit in a 1:1 resonance (see Trojans in astronomy). It is a non-family asteroid in the Jovian background population.[6][13]

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.6–5.8 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,339 days; semi-major axis of 5.21 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as 1986 XM at Anderson Mesa Station in December 1986, or 26 months prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.[1]

This minor planet was named by the discoverer after Medon (Phylace's Medon), the illegitimate son of Oileus and half-brother of Ajax the Lesser. Medon was exiled for having killed a relative of his stepmother Eriopis. In the Trojan War, he was killed by Aeneas before the Greek ships.[1]

The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 August 1991 (M.P.C. 18648).[14]

Physical characteristics

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Medon is a generically assumed C-type asteroid.[4] Many if not most Jupiter trojans possess an even darker D or P-type spectrum.

In May 1991, observations by Stefano Mottola using the now decommissioned ESO 1-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile gave a rotation period of 9.838 hours at an amplitude of 0.24 magnitude (U=2+). Follow-up observations were made in 1992 and 2009 – in order to rule out any alternative period solutions, as the irregular lightcurve showed additional maxima and minima – gave a concurring period of 9.840 hours with a brightness variation of 0.31 magnitude (U=2+).[11]

In April 2014, another rotational lightcurve was obtained by Robert Stephens and Daniel Coley at the Center for Solar System Studies in California in collaboration with Linda French from Illinois Wesleyan University. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 9.818 hours with an amplitude of 0.27 magnitude (U=3).[10][a]

According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Medon measures between 63.28 and 78.70 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.045 and 0.070.[7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.061 and a diameter of 67.73 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 9.5.[4]

  1. ^ a b Lightcurve plot of (4836) Medon from 2014 by Robert Stephens and Daniel Coley at the Center for Solar System Studies (U81). Rotation period 9.818±0.005 hours and an amplitude of 0.27±0.02 mag. Quality code is 3. Summary figures at the LCDB.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "4836 Medon (1989 CK1)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Medon". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  3. ^ a b c d e "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 4836 Medon (1989 CK1)" (2017-10-29 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e "LCDB Data for (4836) Medon". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  5. ^ "List of Jupiter Trojans". Minor Planet Center. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Asteroid (4836) Medon – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Masiero, J. R.; Nugent, C. R. (November 2012). "WISE/NEOWISE Observations of the Jovian Trojan Population: Taxonomy". The Astrophysical Journal. 759 (1): 10. arXiv:1209.1549. Bibcode:2012ApJ...759...49G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/759/1/49. S2CID 119101711. (online catalog)
  8. ^ a b c d Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System – IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d Usui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
  10. ^ a b Stephens, Robert D.; Coley, Daniel, R.; French, Linda M. (January 2016). "Large L5 Jovian Trojan Asteroid Lightcurves from the Center for Solar System Studies". The Minor Planet Bulletin. 43 (1): 15–22. Bibcode:2016MPBu...43...15S. ISSN 1052-8091.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ a b c Mottola, Stefano; Di Martino, Mario; Erikson, Anders; Gonano-Beurer, Maria; Carbognani, Albino; Carsenty, Uri; et al. (May 2011). "Rotational Properties of Jupiter Trojans. I. Light Curves of 80 Objects". The Astronomical Journal. 141 (5): 32. Bibcode:2011AJ....141..170M. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/141/5/170.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "Asteroid 4836 Medon". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  14. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 31 May 2018.