Discovered by E. Bowell Discovery date 24 January 1982 Orbits Sun Discoverer Edward L. G. Bowell | MPC designation 3749 Balam Discovered 24 January 1982 Named after David D. Balam | |
Alternative names 1982 BG1 · 1954 XM1962 ED · 1974 YO Moons S/2008 (3749) 1, S/2002 (3749) 1 Similar Asteroid belt, 283 Emma, Solar System, 130 Elektra, Sun | ||
3749 Balam, provisionally known as 1982 BG1, is a trinary asteroid orbiting the inner regions of asteroid belt, about 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona on 24 January 1982.
The asteroid is a member of the Flora family, a very large group of stony asteroids in the inner main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,222 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.11 and is tilted by 5 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. The S-type asteroid has an albedo of 0.16. The body's rotation around its axis has been measured several times by different light-curve observations with a concurring period of 2.8 hours.
It is named after the Canadian astronomer David Balam, principal observer at Victoria's Climenhaga Observatory in British Columbia.
Satellite system
On February 13, 2002, the discovery of a satellite with a diameter of approximately 1.5 kilometers, designated S/2002 (3749) 1, was announced by a team of researchers from SwRI, UA, JPL and OSUG, using the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It orbits 7002289000000000000♠289±13 km away in 7001610000000000000♠61±10 days, with an orbital eccentricity of ~ 0.9.
Being such a small primary body in the inner main belt with a separation of over 100 primary radii, S/2002 (3749) 1 is the most loosely bound binary known. Balam has a Hill sphere with a radius of about 1,500 kilometers.
In March 2008, Franck Marchis discovered a larger (~3 km) inner companion, making this a triple system.