Discovery date 17 May 1991 Pronunciation ˈtɛlᵻfəs (tel'-ə-fəs) Discovered 17 May 1991 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Jupiter trojan | MPC designation 5264 Telephus Alternative names 1991 KC · 1965 AO Aphelion 5.79 m Discovery site Palomar Observatory | |
Discovered by C. Shoemaker
E. Shoemaker Named after Telephus
(Greek mythology) Discoverers Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle Shoemaker Similar Jupiter trojan, Sun, 5381 Sekhmet, Solar System, 3671 Dionysus | ||
5264 Telephus (tel'-Ə-fəs), provisional designation 1991 KC, is a carbonaceous Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 73 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 May 1991, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S Palomar Observatory in California.
The dark C-type asteroid resides in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the gas giant's orbit (also see Trojans in astronomy). It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.6–5.8 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,341 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 34° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1989, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 2 years prior to its discovery.
Photometric observations of this asteroid by astronomers Stefano Mottola and Anders Erikson with the Dutch 0.9-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory site in northern Chile during June 1994 were used to build a light curve. It showed a rotation period of 7000951800000000000♠9.518±0.013 hours with a brightness variation of 0.34 ± 0.02 magnitude (U=3-). In May 2015, another rotational light-curve was obtained by Robert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies, California, using the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope. The light-curve rendered a concurring period of 7000953999999999999♠9.540±0.007 hours with an amplitude of 0.20 in magnitude (U=3-).
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 68.5 and 81.4 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.07. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by IRAS, and derives an albedo of 0.06 with a diameter of 73.4 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 9.3.
The minor planet was named after Telephus from Greek mythology. He is the grandson of Zeus and son of Heracles, after whom the Apollo near-Earth asteroids 5731 Zeus and 5143 Heracles are named, respectively. Telephus was the son-in-law of King Priam of Troy, but fought with the Greeks in the Trojan war. Naming citation was published on 12 July 1995 (M.P.C. 25444).