Discovery date 25 August 2008 Observation arc 6547 days (17.92 yr) Discovered 25 August 2008 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Minor planet category asteroid belt Orbital period 1,344 days Absolute magnitude 16.9 MPC designation 274301 | |
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Alternative names 2008 QH24, 2007 FK34, 1997 RO4 Aphelion 2.73197 AU (408.697 Gm) Perihelion 2.03063 AU (303.778 Gm) Discovery site Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory People also search for Asteroid belt, 216433 Milianleo | ||
274301 Wikipedia (provisional designations: 2008 QH24, 2007 FK34, 1997 RO4) is an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in August 2008. The asteroid was named after the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in January 2013.
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Discovery
The asteroid was discovered by astronomers from the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory (A50) in Ukraine, the country's only privately owned observatory, which has discovered over 90 asteroids since 2003. It was first observed by the Andrushivka team on August 25, 2008, at 22:47 (UTC). It was also observed on the next night and it received provisional designation 2008 QH24. After it was also observed on September 6 by the Andrushivka team, the orbit of the asteroid was calculated accurately. It was shown that the asteroid 2008 QH24 was the same as 1997 RO4 and 2007 FK34 previously spotted by observatories Caussols-ODAS (France), Mt. Lemmon Survey and Steward Observatory (both in Arizona, U.S.). On April 18, 2011, the asteroid received the number 274301. The composition of the asteroid is not known but it is likely to consist, like other asteroids from the asteroid belt, of a mixture of rock and metal.
Name
The decision of the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature to assign the name "Wikipedia" to the asteroid was published in the Minor Planet Circulars of January 27, 2013. The name was proposed by Andriy Makukha, a board member of Wikimedia Ukraine. It was submitted to the Committee by the owner of the observatory, Yuri Ivashchenko.
The official citation of the name reads: