Discovered by E. Bowell MPC designation 2246 Bowell Orbital period 2,874 days Orbits Sun | Discovery date 14 December 1979 Discovered 14 December 1979 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Edward Bowell(astronomer) Alternative names 1979 XH · 1942 GP1973 FH2 · 1973 FR1976 SL6 · 1977 SM3 People also search for 2001 Einstein, 2648 Owa, Sun | ||
2246 Bowell, provisional designation 1979 XH, is a rare-type Hildian asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 44 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory's Anderson Mesa Station on 14 December 1979.
The asteroid is a member of the Hilda family, the outermost orbital group of asteroids in the main-belt, that are in a 3:2 orbital resonance with Jupiter. It has a reddish D-type spectrum on both the SMASS and Tholen taxonomic scheme, and is one of only 46 known bodies with such a spectral type.
Bowell orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.6–4.3 AU once every 7 years and 10 months (2,876 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1955, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 24 years prior to its discovery.
A rotational light-curve for this body was obtained during a photometric survey of Hildian asteroids at the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory and others places in the late 1990s. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000499200000000000♠4.992 hours with a brightness variation of 0.46 in magnitude (U=3).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS (six observations), and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 40.7, 44.2 and 48.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.066, 0.054 and 0.045, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by IRAS.
The minor planet was named in honor of its discoverer, Edward L. G. Bowell (b. 1943), based on a proposal by MPC's longtime director Brian G. Marsden. Astronomer at the Lowell Observatory and a prolific discoverer of minor planets himself, Bowell has made significant contributions on the observatory's UBV photometry and astrometry programs for minor planets, including the prediction of occultation events. Naming citation was published on 1 January 1981 (M.P.C. 5688).