Discovery date 19 September 1973 Alternative names 1973 SA2 · 1977 AY2 Absolute magnitude 10.6 Discovery site Palomar Observatory | MPC designation 11252 Laërtes Discovered 19 September 1973 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Jupiter trojan | |
Discovered by C. J. van Houten
I. van Houten-G.
T. Gehrels Pronunciation leɪˈɜːrtiːz
(lay-ur'-teez) Named after Laërtes
(Greek mythology) Discoverers Tom Gehrels, Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld People also search for Sun, 9511 Klingsor, 11767 Milne | ||
11252 Laërtes (lay-UR'-teez), provisional designation 1973 SA2, is a carbonaceous Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 42 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 September 1973, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten on photographic plates taken by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California.
The dark C-type asteroid is orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of its orbit (see Trojans in astronomy). It orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.0–5.3 AU once every 11 years and 8 months (4,261 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.03 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1951, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 22 years prior to its discovery.
In March 2015, a rotational light-curve was obtained by astronomer Robert Stephens at the U.S. Center for Solar System Studies (CS3), California. The photometric observations showed a rotation period of 7000915000000000000♠9.15±0.03 hours with a brightness variation of 0.18 in magnitude (U=2). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 41.1 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.060. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous bodies of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 42.2 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 10.6.
As an anomaly, the asteroid did not receive a typical survey designation, although it was discovered in 1973, when the discovering trio of astronomers were conducting their second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey (T-2).
The minor planet was named for Laërtes, the king of Ithaca, Argonaut, husband of Anticleia, and father of Odysseus. The father of Laërtes was Arcisius, a son of the sky and thunder god and ruler of Mount Olympus, Zeus. The minor planets 651 Antikleia, 1143 Odysseus, 1151 Ithaka, 5731 Zeus were all named after these figures and places from Greek mythology. Naming citation was published on 24 January 2000 (M.P.C. 38200).