Discovered by T. Gehrels MPC designation 5040 Rabinowitz Minor planet category main-belt · Phocaea Absolute magnitude 13.2 Discoverer Tom Gehrels Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 15 September 1972 Alternative names 1972 RF · 1987 QE Discovered 15 September 1972 Orbits Sun Discovery site Palomar Observatory | |
Named after David Rabinowitz
(astronomer) Similar Sun, 5145 Pholus, 3047 Goethe | ||
5040 Rabinowitz, provisional designation 1972 RF, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory on 15 September 1972. Contrary to most of his discoveries, the asteroid is unrelated to the Palomar–Leiden survey and exclusively credited to Tom Gehrels.
The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a rather small group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, named after its largest member, 25 Phocaea. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–3.0 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,373 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 24° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1971, extending the asteroid's observation arc by one year prior to its discovery.
In July 2013, a rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at the Ondřejov Observatory. The well-defined light-curve gave a rotation period of 7000469010000000000♠4.6901±0.0004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.33 in magnitude (U=3). During the same opposition opportunity, two more light-curves – obtained by Robert D. Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies and by Maurice Clark at the Preston Gott Observatory – gave a similar period of 7000469100000000000♠4.691±0.001 and 7000447200000000000♠4.472±0.001 hours, with an amplitude of 0.35 and 0.31 in magnitude, respectively (U=3-/2+).
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23, derived from the Phocaea family's namesake, and calculates a diameter of 6.4 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.18.
The minor planet was named after American astronomer David Rabinowitz (b. 1960), a discoverer of minor planets himself and researcher at Yale University. The naming also honors his work for the Spacewatch program. Naming citation was published on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22505).