Neha Patil (Editor)

8549 Alcide

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Discovery date
  
30 March 1994

Alternative names
  
1994 FS

Discovered
  
30 March 1994

Orbits
  
Sun

Asteroid group
  
Asteroid belt

MPC designation
  
8549 Alcide

Minor planet category
  
main-belt · Nysa

Absolute magnitude
  
14.2

Asteroid family
  
Nysa family

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).

References

8549 Alcide Wikipedia