Discovered by Felix Aguilar Obs. MPC designation 4008 Corbin Minor planet category main-belt · Phocaea Absolute magnitude 13.1 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 22 January 1977 Alternative names 1977 BY · 1988 CN Discovered 22 January 1977 Orbits Sun Discoverer Félix Aguilar Observatory | |
Named after Brenda & Thomas Corbin (astronomer) Discovery site Carlos U. Cesco Astronomical Station People also search for Sun, 5386 Bajaja, 19079 Hernández | ||
4008 Corbin, provisional designation 1977 BY, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 January 1977, by staff members of the Felix Aguilar Observatory's (formerly known as both, Yale-Columbia Southern Station, and Carlos U. Cesco Station, EACUC) at the Leoncito Astronomical Complex in Argentina.
The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,323 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 26° with respect to the ecliptic.
A photometric light-curve analysis by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory in 2010 rendered a well-defined rotation period of 7000620300000000000♠6.203±0.001 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.12 in magnitude (U=3). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has an albedo of 0.26 and 0.28 and a diameter of 5.4 and 6.0 kilometers, respectively, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes a somewhat lower albedo of 0.23 and calculates a correspondingly larger diameter of 6.4 kilometers.
The minor planet was named after American couple Brenda and Thomas Corbin. He was an astronomer at USNO, in charge of the Argentinian EACUC station, and involved in a number of astrometric projects, such as the Astrographic Catalogue Reference Stars. His wife Brenda, who also worked at the EACUC station, is prolific astronomical librarian, known for her work with the Special Libraries Association and in IAU's Working Group on Nomenclature. Naming citation was published on 11 February 1998 (M.P.C. 31295).