Discovered by E. W. Elst MPC designation 13070 Seanconnery Alternative names 1991 RO2 · 1127 T-1 Discovered 8 September 1991 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 8 September 1991 Named after Sean Connery (actor) Minor planet category main-belt · (inner) Absolute magnitude 14.6 Discoverer Eric Walter Elst | |
Discovery site Haute-Provence Observatory | ||
13070 Seanconnery, provisional designation 1991 RO2, is an eccentric stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 September 1991, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at Haute-Provence Observatory, St. Michael, in southeast France.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,383 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1971, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 20 years prior to its discovery.
In August 2006, a rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made at the Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) in Ngunnawal, Australia. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000708500000000000♠7.085±0.001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18 in magnitude (U=3-). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has an outstandingly high albedo of 0.90 and a diameter of 1.8 kilometers. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter 3.6 kilometers, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the larger the asteroid's diameter, at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).
The minor planet was named for celebrated Scottish actor and Academy Award winner Sean Connery (b. 1930), famous for portraying the character James Bond – after which the minor planet 9007 James Bond is named, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. With this minor planet, he is especially honored by the discoverer for his performance as the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville in The Name of the Rose. Naming citation was published on 9 March 2001 (M.P.C. 42362).