Discovery date 30 March 1994 Alternative names 1994 FS Discovered 30 March 1994 Orbits Sun Asteroid group Asteroid belt | MPC designation 8549 Alcide Absolute magnitude 14.2 | |
Discovered by Farra d'Isonzo Obs.(inc. Luciano Bittesini) Named after Alcide Bittesini(family of discoverer) Discovery site Astronomical Observatory of Farra d'Isonzo Similar Sun, 135 Hertha, 142 Polana | ||
8549 Alcide, provisional designation 1994 FS, is a stony Nysa asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.2 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 March 1994, by a group of amateur astronomers at the Italian Farra d'Isonzo Observatory, in Farra d'Isonzo, near the border to Slovenia.
The S-type asteroid is a member of the stony subgroup of the Nysa family, one of the smaller families in the main-belt, named after its namesake, 44 Nysa. The body orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 10 months (1,389 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. First Precoveries were taken at Palomar and Steward Observatory (Kitt Peak) just weeks and days prior to the asteroid's discovery.
A rotational light-curve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made by astronomer David Polishook at the ground-based Wise Observatory, Israel, in November 2007. The light-curve gave a rotation period of 7000300000000000000♠3 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.2 in magnitude (U=2-). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 4.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.195, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.21 and calculates a diameter of 4.2 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 14.2.
The minor planet was named for Italian high-school teacher of natural sciences, Alcide Bittesini (1913–1981). He was the father of amateur astronomer Luciano Bittesini, who co-discovered the asteroid with his amateur colleagues at the Astronomical Observatory of Farra d'Isonzo, Italy. At the age of 9, his father fostered his interest in astronomy, when they observed a comet with a homespun telescope made of a pair of glasses, a tin can and a microscope eyepiece. Naming citation was published on 2 February 1999 (M.P.C. 33791).