Discovered by E. F. Helin MPC designation 2099 Opik Minor planet category Mars-crosser Absolute magnitude 15.18 Discoverer Eleanor F. Helin | Discovery date 8 November 1977 Alternative names 1977 VB · 1977 UL2 Discovered 8 November 1977 Orbits Sun | |
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2099 Öpik, provisional designation 1977 VB, is a dark and eccentric asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, classified as Mars-crossing asteroid, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California, on 8 November 1977.
The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.5–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,277 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.36 and an inclination of 27° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1970, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 7 years prior to its discovery.
Paradoxically, the asteroid's spectral type is that of a bright S-type and of a dark Ch-type, on the Tholen and SMASS taxonomic scheme, respectively, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a low albedo of 0.06, which is typical for carbonaceous asteroids and in accordance with the SMASS classification.
In 2005, a photometric light-curve analysis by several astronomers including Pierre Antonini, rendered a rotation period of 7000644300000000000♠6.4430±0.0002 hours and with a brightness amplitude of 0.21 in magnitude (U=2), superseding the results of an observation from the 1990s that gave a longer period of 9.3 hours (U=2).
The minor planet was named after Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist, Ernst Öpik (1893–1985), who has influenced many fields of astronomy during his 60-year long career. He is noted for developing the discipline of statistical celestial mechanics and for methods to estimate the lifetimes of planet-crossing asteroids. In the early 1950s, he calculated the impact probability of Mars-crossing asteroids with Mars, and concluded that a search for impact craters on Mars would be a fruitful. Fourteen years later, Martian craters were discovered by Mariner 4. Naming citation was published before November 1977 (M.P.C. 4548).