Discovery date 8 October 1953 Alternative names 1953 TA1 · 1991 QH Discovered 8 October 1953 Asteroid family Flora family Moon S/2005 (9260) 1 | MPC designation 9260 Edwardolson Minor planet category main-belt · Flora Orbits Sun Discovery site Goethe Link Observatory Discoverer Indiana Asteroid Program | |
Discovered by Indiana University
(Indiana Asteroid Program) Named after Edward C. Olson
(astronomer) Similar Asteroid belt, Solar System, Sun, 8 Flora | ||
9260 Edwardolson, provisional designation 1953 TA1, is a Florian binary asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4.1 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 October 1953, by Indiana University during its Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory in Brooklyn, Indiana, United States.
The stony 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 1.8–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,265 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. As no precoveries were taken, the asteroid's observation arc begins with its discovery in 1953.
A rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations in several locations including the Slovakian Skalnaté pleso Observatory. It rendered a rotation period of 7000308520000000000♠3.0852±0.0001 hours with a low brightness variation of 0.11 in magnitude, which suggests that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape (U=n/a). According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid has an albedo of 0.26 and 0.16, and an respective absolute magnitude of 14.0 and 14.54. Both data sets converge to a diameter of 4.1 kilometers.
In 2005, a satellite was discovered around the asteroid, making it a binary system. The minor-planet moon has a fairly short orbital period of 17 hours, 47 minutes, and 2 seconds (7001177850000000000♠17.785±0.003 hours), and an estimated mean-diameter ratio of 6999270000000000000♠0.27±0.03, which would give the satellite a diameter of approximately 1.0 to 1.3 kilometers.
The minor planet was named in honor of American astronomer Edward C. Olson (b. 1930) of the University of Illinois whose observations explained the distortion of the outer layers of mass-gaining stars, and how their rotation can come close to the stability limit during the involved mass-transfer process and the preserved angular momentum. Olson was also an active member of the International Astronomical Union, affiliated with its Division G Stars and Stellar Physics. Naming citation was published on 13 July 2004 (M.P.C. 52322).