Discovered by UESAC MPC designation (7348) 1993 FJ22 Observation arc 82.39 yr (30,094 days) Absolute magnitude 12.9 Asteroid family Themis family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 21 March 1993 Minor planet category main-belt · Themis Discovered 21 March 1993 Orbits Sun Discovery site La Silla Observatory Discoverer UESAC | |
Alternative names 1993 FJ22 · 1933 FU
1978 NM5 · 1991 XF3 | ||
(7348) 1993 FJ22 is an unnamed, carbonaceous, Themistian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, about 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 March 1993, by the Uppsala-ESO Survey of Asteroids and Comets (UESAC) at ESO's La Silla Observatory site in northern Chile.
The dark C-type asteroid is a member of the Themis family, a dynamical family of outer-belt asteroids with nearly coplanar ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–3.4 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,985 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's long observation arc of more than 80 years is due to precovery observations that date back to 1933, for which the body was assigned the provisional designation "1933 FU".
In 2014, two photometric light-curve observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory, California, rendered a rotation period of 7000347350000000000♠3.4735±0.0031 and 7000347000000000000♠3.470±0.020 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.10 and 0.13 in magnitude, respectively (U=2).
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes that the asteroid's surface has a low albedo of 0.08 and calculates its diameter to measure 9.9 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.38.