| Discovered by UESAC MPC designation (39546) 1992 DT5 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Discovered 29 February 1992 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 29 February 1992 Alternative names 1992 DT5 · 1999 TA162 Observation arc 24.27 yr (8,864 days) Discovery site La Silla Observatory Discoverer UESAC | |
(39546) 1992 DT5 is a carbonaceous asteroid and exceptionally slow rotator from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 29 February 1992, by the Uppsala–ESO Survey of Asteroids and Comets (UESAC) at ESO's La Silla astronomical observatory site in northern Chile.
The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,703 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.02 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, the asteroid's observation arc begins with its discovery observation in February 1992.
In September 2013, a rotational light-curve was obtained for this asteroid from photometric observations at the U.S Palomar Transient Factory in California. It gave a rotation period of 1167 hours with an estimated error margin of ±100 hours. According to the Light Curve Data Base (LCDB), it is the 8th slowest rotating minor planet known to exist. With a high amplitude of 0.80 magnitude for its light-curve, the body is likely to have a non-spheroidal shape (U=2).
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 5.3 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 15.09.