Discovery date 24 September 1960 Discovered 24 September 1960 Orbits Sun Discovery site Palomar Observatory | MPC designation 1810 Epimetheus Aphelion 2.43 m Asteroid family Flora family | |
Discovered by C. J. van Houten
I. van Houten-G.
T. Gehrels
(Palomar–Leiden survey) Pronunciation /ɛpᵻˈmiːθiəs/
(ep-i-mee-thee-əs) Named after Epimetheus
(Greek mythology) Alternative names 4196 P-L · 1942 FS
1950 SC · 1957 WC1
1962 GC · 1970 SS Discoverers Tom Gehrels, Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld Similar Solar System, Sun, Asteroid belt, 218 Bianca, 38 Leda | ||
1810 Epimetheus (ep-i-MEE-thee-əs), provisional designation 4196 P-L, is a stony Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten, and Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels during the Palomar–Leiden survey at Palomar Observatory in California, United States.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,212 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation, as the previous identifications, 1942 FS and 1950 SC, made at Johannesburg and Uccle in 1942 and 1950, respectively, remained unused.
Two divergent rotational light-curves of Epimetheus were obtained from photometric observations. They gave a rotation period of 10.9 and 28.6 hours with both having a brightness variation of 0.04 magnitude (U=2/2).
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Epimetheus measures 7.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.27, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 8.2 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.6.
The survey designation "P-L" stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.
This minor planet is named for the Titan in Greek mythology, Epimetheus, who opened Pandora's box, which contained all the illnesses and ailments of mankind (also see 55 Pandora). Epimetheus is also a moon of Saturn, which was discovered by Voyager 1 in 1980. Epimetheus is the brother of Prometheus after whom the minor planet 1809 Prometheus was named. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 3935).