Discovery date 23 August 1998 Alternative names 1998 QZ15 · 1974 TQ1 Discovered 23 August 1998 Discoverer Ferran Casarramona Discovery site Montjoia Observatory | MPC designation 13260 Sabadell Minor planet category main-belt · Eunomia Orbits Sun Asteroid family Eunomia family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Discovered by F. Casarramona
A. Vidal Named after Agrupació Astronómica de Sabadell
(astronomical society) Similar Sun, 390 Alma, 85 Io | ||
13260 Sabadell, provisional designation 1998 QZ15, is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Spanish–Catalan amateur astronomers Ferrán Casarramona and Antoni Vidal at the Montjoia Observatory (), Barcelona, on 23 August 1998.
The asteroid is a member of the Eunomia family, a large group of S-type asteroids and the most prominent family in the intermediate main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,486 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1952, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 46 years prior to its discovery.
In 2006, a photometric light-curve analysis by Italian astronomers Silvano Casulli and Antonio Vagnozzi gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000643660000000000♠6.4366±0.0007 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.56 in magnitude (U=3). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 5.3 kilometers in diameter and has a high surface albedo of 0.31, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 6.1 kilometers, as the lower the body's albedo (reflectivity) the higher its diameter, at a constant absolute magnitude (brightness).
The minor planet is named for the well known Catalan–Spanish amateur astronomical society Agrupació Astronómica de Sabadell, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2000. Both discoverers are members of this society. Naming citation was published on 26 July 2000 (M.P.C. 41032). The society uses the Observatorio de Sabadell (619), one of the country's most prolific amateur observatories, located in a park in the center of Sabadell, near Barcelona, Spain.