Discovered by Perth Obs. MPC designation 4362 Carlisle Discovered 1 August 1978 Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 1 August 1978 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Orbits Sun Discoverer Perth Observatory | |
Alternative names 1978 PR4 · 1974 FM11984 EE1 People also search for Sun, 8 Flora, 915 Cosette, 5542 Moffatt | ||
4362 Carlisle, provisional designation 1978 PR4, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 1 August 1978, by staff members of the Perth Observatory at Bickley, Western Australia.
The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest families in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,223 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Mount Wilson Observatory in 1952, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 26 years prior to its discovery.
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 5.2 and 5.6 kilometers in diameter, based on a very high albedo of 0.41 and 0.39, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – taken from the Flora family's largest member and namesake, the asteroid 8 Flora – and calculates a larger diameter of 6.5 kilometers. As of 2016, no rotational light-curve has yet been obtained, and the asteroid's rotation period remains unknown.
The minor planet was named after meteorite hunter Albert Carlisle (1917–1993), who lived in the Australian Outback. During the course of half a century, he collected more than 9,000 of these rocky or metallic debris on the Nullarbor Plain of Western Australia and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his scientific contribution in 1982. Naming citation was published on 29 November 1993 (M.P.C. 22829).