Discovered by C. W. Juels MPC designation 24105 Broughton Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Orbits Sun | Discovery date 9 November 1999 Alternative names 1999 VE10 · 1997 BV6 Discovered 9 November 1999 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Discovery site Fountain Hills Observatory People also search for Sun, 8 Flora, 915 Cosette, 967 Helionape | ||
24105 Broughton, provisional designation 1999 VE10, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 November 1999, by American amateur astronomer Charles W. Juels at the U.S. Fountain Hills Observatory in Arizona.
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 2.2–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,308 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic. Identified as 1997 BV6 at the Japanese Tajimi Observatory, the first used observation was a precovery obtained at Steward Observatory 13 days later, and extending Broughton's observation arc by more than 2 years prior to the official discovery observation.
In October 2013, a rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory in California. It gave a longer-than-average rotation period of 7001159442000000000♠15.9442±0.0250 hours with a brightness variation of 0.34 in magnitude (U=2). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the family's largest member and namesake – and calculates a diameter of 3.65 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 14.36.
The minor planet is named in honor of Australian amateur astronomer John Broughton (b. 1952), a prolific discoverer of minor planets who received a "Shoemaker NEO Grant" in 2002. Naming citation was published on 26 November 2004 (M.P.C. 53176).