Discovered by E. Bowell MPC designation 2874 Jim Young Observation arc 62.61 yr (22,868 days) Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 13 October 1982 Discovered 13 October 1982 Discoverer Edward L. G. Bowell | |
Alternative names 1982 TH · 1962 WE1965 SD · 1972 TD21972 XF Named after James Whitney Young (astronomer) | ||
2874 Jim Young, provisional designation 1982 TH, is a stony Florian asteroid and relatively slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7.5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 13 October 1982, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, 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 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,228 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 28 years prior to its discovery.
In January 2007, a rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained by U.S. astronomer Donald P. Pray at his Carbuncle Hill Observatory. It gave a very long rotation period of 7002131300000000000♠131.3 hours with a brightness amplitude of approximately 0.75 in magnitude (U=2).
According to two different data sets from NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures between 6.6 and 7.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.190 and 0.251. 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 7.5 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.8.
The minor planet was named for U.S. astronomer James Young at JPL's Table Mountain Observatory near Wrightwood, California. At the time of citation, his numerous photometric observations significantly contributed to the number of then known rotation periods of asteroids. Naming citation was published on 10 September 1984 (M.P.C. 9081). Young is also a prolific discoverer of minor planets, credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of more than 250 numbered bodies.