Discovered by E. Bowell MPC designation 2554 Skiff Discovered 17 July 1980 Discoverer Edward L. G. Bowell | Discovery date 17 July 1980 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Brian Skiff(astronomer) Alternative names 1980 OB · 1931 AB1970 RE · 1976 GK81976 HV People also search for 2648 Owa, Sun, 8 Flora, 915 Cosette | ||
2554 Skiff, provisional designation 1980 OB, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station, Arizona, on 17 July 1980.
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 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,244 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1953, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 27 years, while the first yet unused observation at Heidelberg Observatory dates back to 1931.
In August 2014, a rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations by Italian astronomers at the Franco Fuligni Observatory near Rome. It gave a provisional rotation period of 7001256000000000000♠25.6±0.5 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.32 in magnitude (U=1). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 6.0 and 6.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an exceptionally high albedo of 0.334 0.449, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link, however, assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from the family's principal body and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora – and calculates a larger diameter of 7.8 kilometers.
The minor planet was named in honor of American astronomer Brian Skiff, discoverer more than 50 asteroids. He significantly contributed to Lowell's asteroid astrometry program, including the rediscovery of the 800-meter potentially hazardous object 69230 Hermes, a long lost asteroid. Naming citation was published on 8 April 1982 (M.P.C. 6834).