Discovered by M. AkiyamaT. Furuta Discovered 18 October 1990 Inclination 10.972° Discovery site Susono observatory | Discovery date 18 October 1990 Minor planet category main-belt · (inner) Aphelion 2.74 m Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Alternative names 1990 UH · 1974 HC21979 SJ2 · 1981 EJ491985 JE2 Discoverers | ||
5333 Kanaya, provisional designation 1990 UH, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 14 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Japanese astronomers Makio Akiyama and Toshimasa Furuta at Susono Observatory, Japan, on 18 October 1990.
The dark C-type asteroid, classified as a Ch-subtype in the SMASS taxonomic scheme, orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,312 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was obtained at Cerro El Roble in 1974, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 16 years prior to its discovery. However, the asteroid was already imaged in 1954, at IU's Goethe Link Observatory.
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 14.2 and 13.6 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.029 and 0.051, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 13.4 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 13.1.
Several rotational light-curves have been obtained. In December 2005, photometric observations by David Higgins at Hunters Hill Observatory, Australia, gave a rotation period of 7000380220000000000♠3.8022±0.0008 hours with a brightness variation of 0.22 in magnitude (U=3). In October 2010, an observation by Petr Pravec rendered a period of 7000380224000000000♠3.80224±0.00006 and an amplitude of 0.16 in magnitude (U=3). Other observations rendered similar periods (U=2+/3-).
The minor planet was named for the Japanese town of Kanaya (金谷町 Kanaya-chō) in Haibara District of the Shizuoka Prefecture. It is the native town of the first discoverer, Makio Akiyama, and also a station on the ancient "Tokai-do" road. The Malinohara plateau south of Kanaya is well known for its production of green tea. Naming citation was published on 6 February 1993 (M.P.C. 21610).