Discovered by A. Mrkos MPC designation 6469 Armstrong Orbital period 1,208 days Orbits Sun Asteroid family Flora family | Discovery date 14 August 1982 Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Discovered 14 August 1982 Discoverer Antonín Mrkos Discovery site Kleť Observatory | |
Named after Neil Armstrong
(astronaut, Apollo 11) Alternative names 1982 PC · 1969 UK1
1972 NN · 1979 WZ6
1982 QL Similar Asteroid belt, Sun, Solar System, 8 Flora, 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková | ||
6469 Armstrong, provisional designation 1982 PC, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Czech astronomer Antonín Mrkos at Kleť Observatory on 14 August 1982.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.8–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,207 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.20 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic. The first used precovery was taken at Crimea-Nauchnij in 1972, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 10 years prior to its discovery.
Two rotational light-curves of this asteroid were obtained from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory, California, in January and February 2014. The light-curves gave a concurring rotation period of 7000604000000000000♠6.040±0.040 and 7000596480000000000♠5.9648±0.1423 hours with a brightness variation of 0.65 and 0.70 in magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 3.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.24, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an identical albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 2.9 kilometers, based on a weaker absolute magnitude of 14.87.
The minor planet was named after U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930–2012), on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. On 20 July 1969, Armstrong was one of the first two humans to land on the Moon, and the first person to walk on it, shortly followed by Buzz Aldrin, after whom the asteroid 6470 Aldrin is named. The minor planet 6471 Collins is named after the third crew member of the Apollo 11 mission. In 1966, Armstrong also conducted the first docking in space together with David Scott aboard Gemini 8. The asteroid's name was suggested by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá, Miloš Tichý and Zdeněk Moravec, who observed it during its 1995-opposition, shortly before being numbered. The lunar crater Armstrong is also named in his honor. Naming citation was published on 4 May 1999 (M.P.C. 34623).