Discovery date 4 November 1988 Alternative names 1988 VS4 · 1990 KH Discovered 4 November 1988 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | MPC designation 5175 Ables Aphelion 2.04 m | |
Discovered by C. S. ShoemakerE. M. Shoemaker Named after Harold Ables(astronomer) Discoverers Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle Shoemaker Similar 847 Agnia, 911 Agamemnon, 145 Adeona, 1996 Adams, 588 Achilles | ||
5175 Ables, provisional designation 1988 VS4, is a bright Hungaria asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomers Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S. Palomar Observatory, California, on 4 November 1988.
The stony E-type asteroid is a member of the Hungaria family, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.0 AU once every 2 years and 9 months (1,008 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 17° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was obtained at Palomar Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 34 years prior to its discovery.
Based on the surveys carried out by the NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid has an albedo of 0.29 and 0.51, with a corresponding diameter of 5.7 and 4.3 kilometers, respectively, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.30 and calculates a diameter of 5.3 kilometers. Between 2010 and 2014, three rotational light-curves have been obtained by American astronomer Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Station, Colorado. The best result gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000279800000000000♠2.798±0.002 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.10 in magnitude (U=3).
The minor planet was named after American astronomer Harold Ables (b. 1938). While director at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station (NOFS), he was responsible for the station's transition from photographic plates to CCD imaging. The body's name was suggested by the JPL Ephemeris Group and subsequently proposed by the discoverers. Naming citation was published on 1 July 1996 (M.P.C. 27459).