Discovery date 9 September 1959 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Absolute magnitude 12.2 | MPC designation 2065 Spicer Discovered 9 September 1959 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1959 RN · 1952 BS11955 XC · 1968 QX1973 YR2 People also search for 2066 Palala, 2064 Thomsen | ||
2065 Spicer, provisional designation 1959 RN, is a dark and eccentric asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 September 1959, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–3.3 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,619 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. It has an albedo of 0.06. The asteroid spectra is that of a X-type or Xc-type in SMASS classification scheme, which indicates a transitional stage to a C-type spectra of carbonaceous asteroids.
Photometric measurements of the asteroid made in 2005 at the Palmer Divide Observatory (see video in § External links) showed a light curve with a period of 7001181650000000000♠18.165±0.005 hours and a brightness variation of 7000100000000000000♠1.0±0.03 in magnitude.
It is named after American anthropologist Edward H. Spicer (1906–1983), professor at the University of Arizona, and a former president of the American Anthropological Association. His assistance was a major factor in the success of the negotiations with the Schuk Toak District Council and the Papago Tribal Council in 1955 to obtain permission for the site evaluation of the later built Kitt Peak National Observatory. Naming citation was published on 26 May 1983 (M.P.C. 7944).