Discovered by W. Liller MPC designation 3040 Kozai Minor planet category Mars-crosser Aphelion 2.21 m Orbits Sun Asteroid group Mars-crosser asteroid | Discovery date 23 January 1979 Alternative names 1979 BA Discovered 23 January 1979 Inclination 46.639° Discoverer William Liller | |
Named after Yoshihide Kozai
(astronomer) Discovery site Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory | ||
3040 Kozai, provisional designation 1979 BA, is a stony asteroid and Mars-crosser on a tilted orbit from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameters. It was discovered by American astronomer William Liller at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, on 23 January 1979. The asteroid is considered a classical example of an object submitted to the Kozai effect, induced by an outer perturber, which in this case is the gas giant Jupiter.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.5–2.2 AU once every 2 years and 6 months (912 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 47° with respect to the ecliptic.of 1.5–2.2 AU once every 2 years and 6 months (912 days). Its orbit shows a notable eccentricity of 0.20. The orbit is also heavily inclined by 47 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic.
Little is known about the asteroids size, composition, albedo and rotation, despite having a well-observed orbit with the lowest possible uncertainty – which is denoted by a condition code of 0 – and an observation arc that spans over a time period of almost 40 years. With an absolute magnitude of 13.8, the asteroid's diameter could be anywhere between 4 and 11 kilometers for an assumed albedo in the range of 0.05–0.25 (see NASA's conversion table). Since the asteroid's spectral type is that of a brighter stony rather than a darker carbonaceous body, its diameter is on the lower end of NASA's generic conversion table, as the larger the body's diameter, the lower its albedo at a constant absolute magnitude.
On 10 January 2044, the asteroid will make a close approach to Mars, passing the Red Planet at a distance of 0.034 AU (5,100,000 km).
The minor planet was named in honour of 20th-century Japanese astronomer Yoshihide Kozai, discoverer of the periodic comet D/Skiff-Kosai and of the Kozai mechanism. Naming citation was published on 2 July 1985 (M.P.C. 9770).