Discovered by G. van Biesbroeck MPC designation 2253 Espinette Discovered 30 July 1932 Orbits Sun | Discovery date 30 July 1932 Minor planet category Mars-crosser Absolute magnitude 12.9 | |
Named after Espinette(discoverer's residence) Alternative names 1932 PB · 1939 RJ1953 VB1 · 1970 PM1977 TG People also search for 2035 Stearns, 2055 Dvořák, 2044 Wirt | ||
2253 Espinette, provisional designation 1932 PB, is a stony asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 July 1932, by Belgian–American astronomer George Van Biesbroeck at the U.S. Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin. The body was independently discovered on the following night by English-born South-African astronomer Cyril Jackson at Johannesburg, and by Soviet–Russian astronomer Grigory Neujmin at Simeiz Observatory on the Crimean peninsula, on August 4.
The S-type asteroid is classified as a Sl-subtype in the SMASS taxonomic scheme, a transitional type to the much redder L-type asteroids. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.6–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,260 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. No precoveries were taken prior to its discovery. As an anomaly, the asteroid's observation arc excludes the discovering observation and begins a few days later.
Several rotational light-curves of this body have been obtained. In April 2011, photometric observations by American astronomer Brian A. Skiff rendered a well-defined rotation period of 7000744200000000000♠7.442±0.002 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.25 in magnitude (U=3). In August 2015, another observation by Robert Stevens at the Center for Solar System Studies (CS3), California, gave an identical period of 7000744200000000000♠7.442±0.001 with a brightness variation of 0.44 in magnitude (U=3). Previous observations by Polish astronomer Wiesław Z. Wiśniewski in 1987, and by Italian Federico Manzini in 2005, rendered similar results (U=2/2). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 7.0 kilometers.
The minor planet was named "Espinette" after the discoverer's U.S. home in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, located near the discovering Yerkes Observatory. At their home, the Van Biesbroecks accommodated visitors of the observatory from all over the world. The name "Espinette" was proposed by the discoverer's children, and it refers to a coffeehouse in Belgium. Naming citation was published on 1 June 1981 (M.P.C. 6059).