Discovered by T. Urata MPC designation 6025 Naotosato Discovered 30 December 1992 Discoverer Takeshi Urata Discovery site Nihondaira Observatory | Discovery date 30 December 1992 Minor planet category main-belt · Eos Orbits Sun Asteroid family Eos family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Naoto Satō
(astronomer) Alternative names 1992 YA3 · 1954 SG1
1965 UO · 1977 BK
1983 EE1 · 1986 TL11
1987 YS2 · 1990 HF2
1991 RS29 People also search for 6024 Ochanomizu, Asteroid belt, Sun | ||
6025 Naotosato, provisional designation 1992 YA3, is an Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 December 1992, by Japanese astronomer Takeshi Urata at the Nihondaira Observatory in Oohira, Japan.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Eos family, an orbital group of more than 4,000 asteroids, which are well known for mostly being of stony composition. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 3 months (1,919 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. The first observation was made at Goethe Link Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 38 years prior to its discovery.
In September 2009, a rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations by French astronomer René Roy. The fragmentary light-curve gave a longer-than average rotation period of 10 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 in magnitude (U=1).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 18.4 and 20.0 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.148 and 0.188, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.14 and calculates a diameter of 17.8 kilometers.
The minor planet was named after Japanese amateur astronomer Naoto Satō (b. 1953 ), by profession a junior high school science teacher and a prolific discoverer of minor planets from his private Chichibu Observatory himself. He has also prediscovered C/1989 Y2, a parabolic comet credited to McKenzie–Russell. Naming citation was published on 2 February 1999 (M.P.C. 33786).