Discovered by T. Seki Orbital period 1,172 days Orbits Sun | Discovery date 30 October 1986 Discovered 30 October 1986 Discovery site Geisei Observatory | |
Alternative names 1986 UZ · 1950 MC1960 RA · 1965 CD1973 SE4 · 1973 ST2 Similar Sun, 8 Flora, Comet Ikeya–Seki | ||
3851 Alhambra, provisional designation 1986 UZ, is a stony Flora asteroid and relatively slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 October 1986, by Japanese astronomer Tsutomu Seki at Geisei Observatory in Kōchi, Japan.
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 2.0–2.3 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,172 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at La Plata Astronomical Observatory in 1950, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 36 years prior to its discovery.
A rotational light-curve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made at the Australian Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) in March 2007. It rendered a relatively long rotation period of 53 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.35 in magnitude (U=2). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 6.5 and 6.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.218 and 0.242, respectively, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of this orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 6.5 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.1.
The minor planet was named for the Alhambra ("the red one"), the famous medieval palace and fortress complex of the Moorish emirs, located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. The place with its islamic architecture is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Spain's major tourist attractions. The virtuoso classical guitarist Andrés Segovia, after whom the minor planet 3822 Segovia is named, had the piece Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Memories of the Alhambra) in his repertoire. Naming citation was published on 21 April 1989 (M.P.C. 14482).