Discovered by Spacewatch MPC designation 9423 Abt Discovered 12 January 1996 Inclination 8.8469° Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 12 January 1996 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Aphelion 2.97 m Orbits Sun Discoverer Spacewatch | |
Named after Helmut Abt (astronomer) Alternative names 1996 AT7 · 1974 DU
1981 US15 · 1983 CK8
1990 VH15 · 1992 DP2 Discovery site Kitt Peak National Observatory | ||
9423 Abt, provisional designation 1996 AT7, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, about 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by the U.S. Spacewatch project of the University of Arizona at Kitt Peak National Observatory, on 12 January 1996.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.4–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 5 months (1,615 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Crimea-Nauchnij in 1974, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 22 years prior to its discovery.
A photometric light-curve observation at Hunters Hill Observatory, Australia, in 2006, gave it a rotation period of 7000328100000000000♠3.281±0.005 hours with a brightness variation of 0.30 in magnitude (U=3). A second light-curve analysis at the Palomar Transient Factory in 2012, rendered a concurring period of 7000327660000000000♠3.2766±0.0003 hours with an amplitude of 0.33 in magnitude (U=2).
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of the NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid's surface has an albedo of 0.14 and 0.13, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) assumes an albedo of 0.10, which is untypically low for stony bodies. Both, the space-based surveys and CALL agree closely on a diameter estimate in the range of 12.69 to 13.29 kilometers.
The minor planet was named after American astronomer Helmut Abt (b. 1925), one of the founders of the discovering Kitt Peak National Observatory, after which the minor planet 2322 Kitt Peak is named. His research included stellar properties and systems. As senior editor of The Astrophysical Journal he was responsible for converting it into its digital format. Naming citation was published on 11 November 2000 (M.P.C. 41568).