Discovered by T. B. Spahr MPC designation 7784 Watterson Minor planet category main-belt · Phocaea Absolute magnitude 13.5 Discovery site Catalina Station | Discovery date 5 August 1994 Alternative names 1994 PL Discovered 5 August 1994 Discoverer Timothy B. Spahr Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Bill Watterson
(cartoonist) People also search for Callirrhoe, (32896) 1994 NM2 | ||
7784 Watterson, provisional designation 1994 PL, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Timothy Spahr at the U.S. Catalina Station, Arizona, on 5 August 1994.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,247 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 23 degrees from the plane of the ecliptic.
In 2011, a photometric light-curve analysis by astronomer Brian Skiff gave a rotation period of 7000253900000000000♠2.539±0.001 hours with a relatively low brightness amplitude of 0.10 in magnitude, indicative of a nearly spheroidal shape (U=3-). According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the asteroid has an albedo of 0.19 and a diameter of 5.6 kilometers. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with WISE's observations and assumes a slightly higher albedo of 0.23 and calculates a diameter of 5.5 kilometers.
The minor planet is named after Bill Watterson (b. 1958), cartoonist of the daily comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Syndicated from 1985 to 1995, this strip is fondly remembered and treasured by the discoverer, and helped him stay awake and sane on long observing nights and during the trials and tribulations of graduate school.