Discovered by M. Yanai
K. Watanabe MPC designation 4263 Abashiri Observation arc 65.76 yr (24,018 days) Orbits Sun Asteroid family Flora family | Discovery date 7 September 1989 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Discovered 7 September 1989 Named after Abashiri (Japanese city) Discovery site Kitami Observatory | |
Alternative names 1989 RL2 · 1935 KE
1952 OS · 1969 TS3
1972 OB · 1978 EK
1981 AT1 · 1982 PF
1988 DK5 Discoverers Kazuro Watanabe, Masayuki Yanai Similar 847 Agnia, 911 Agamemnon, 145 Adeona, 1996 Adams, 588 Achilles | ||
4263 Abashiri, provisional designation 1989 RL2, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 September 1989, by Japanese astronomers Masayuki Yanai and Kazuro Watanabe at Kitami Observatory in eastern Hokkaidō, 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 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,221 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic. Due to a precovery obtained at Palomar Observatory in 1951, the asteroid's observation arc could be extended by 38 years prior to its discovery.
In 2008 and 2011, two rotational light-curves obtained by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000488199999999999♠4.8820±0.0002 and 7000488170000000000♠4.8817±0.0001 hours with a corresponding brightness variation of 0.15 and 0.11 in magnitude, respectively (U=3/3). According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 9.0 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.20, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24, derived from the Flora family's largest member and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora, and calculates a somewhat smaller diameter of 7.2 kilometers.
The minor planet was named for the Japanese city of Abashiri, known for its fishing industry. It is located at the Sea of Okhotsk, about 50 kilometers east of Kitami, in the eastern part of the island of Hokkaidō. The minor planets, 3720 Hokkaido and 3785 Kitami are named after the island and city, respectively. Naming citation was published on 21 November 1991 (M.P.C. 19336).