Discovered by INAS MPC designation 10046 Creighton Discovered 2 May 1986 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 2 May 1986 Minor planet category main-belt · (inner) Absolute magnitude 13.4 Discovery site Palomar Observatory | |
Named after James M. Creighton
(American architect) Alternative names 1986 JC · 1986 LD
1990 KH2 · 1990 SJ10 Discoverer International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey People also search for Sun, 4121 Carlin, (9735) 1986 JD, 9556 Gaywray, 5722 Johnscherrer, (6694) 1986 PF, 5227 Bocacara | ||
10046 Creighton, provisional designation 1986 JC, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 2 May 1986, by the International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey (INAS) at the U.S. Palomar Observatory, California.
The dark C-type asteroid is also classified as X-type by Pan-STARRS large-scale survey. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,307 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery taken at the discovering observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 32 years prior to its discovery.
In April 2011, a rotational light-curve was obtained for this asteroid from photometric obsrevations by American astronomer Brian Skiff. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000656600000000000♠6.566±0.002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.68 in magnitude (U=3). Two other light-curves – obtained at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, in February 2014, and by astronomer Maurice Clark at Texas Tech's Preston Gott Observatory in June 2011 – are in agreement with a period of 7000656680000000000♠6.5668±0.0036 and 7000656980000000000♠6.5698±0.0002 hours, and an amplitude of 0.46 and 0.65, respectively (U=2/3-).
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 10.4 and 11.5 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a low albedo between 0.05 and 0.07. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.04 and a diameter of 12.4 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.6.
The minor planet was named after pioneering American architect James M. Creighton (1856-1946), who designed the Old Main building at Arizona State University, and designed and constructed the original road to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado. Naming citation was published on 2 December 2009 (M.P.C. 67759).