Discovery date 5 June 1994 Alternative names 1994 LE3 · 1991 GT Discovered 5 June 1994 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | MPC designation 7958 Leakey Absolute magnitude 14.3 | |
Discovered by C. S. ShoemakerE. M. Shoemaker Discoverers Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle Shoemaker Similar Sun, 3554 Amun, Comet Shoemak, 129P/Shoemaker–Levy, 118P/Shoemaker–Levy | ||
7958 Leakey, provisional designation 1994 LE3, is a binary Hungaria asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by the American astronomer-couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in southern California, on 5 June 1994.
The E-type asteroid is a member of the Hungaria family, which form the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.7–2.0 AU once every 2 years and 7 months (940 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic.
According to observations carried out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the body has an albedo of 0.47, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a value of 0.30 – a somewhat more typical value for E-type asteroids. Two different light-curve analysis in 2012 and 2015, rendered a concurring and well-defined rotation period of 2.35 hours for the primary body.
The asteroid's binary companion was discovered in 2012 with an orbital period of 2 days, 2 hours, and 17 minutes (50.24 h). It is likely that the secondary body is tidally locked, which means that its rotation is synchronous with its orbital period. Based on only two observations at the Palmer Divide Observatory, it is tentatively estimated that the size-ratio of the binary system is 6999300000000000000♠0.3±0.03, which would give a 1-kilometer diameter for the satellite.
The minor planet is named after the Leakey's, a family of Kenyan paleoanthropologists: Mary Leakey (1913–1996), her husband Louis Leakey (1903–1972), and their son Richard Leakey (b. 1944). Working for many years in Tanzania and Kenya, they conclusively proved that human evolution began in Africa rather than Asia. Richard explored the Koobi Fora archaeological site in Kenya, where many Hominin fossils have been found. Naming citation was published on 11 April 1998 (M.P.C. 31612).