145523 Lulin Explained

Minorplanet:yes
145523 Lulin
Background:
  1. D6D6D6
Discovered:7 March 2006
Mpc Name:(145523) Lulin
Named After:Lulin Mountains
Epoch:27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5)
Uncertainty:0
Observation Arc:25.72 yr (9,396 d)
Perihelion:2.2468 AU
Semimajor:2.7476 AU
Eccentricity:0.1823
Period:4.55 yr (1,664 d)
Mean Motion: / day
Inclination:10.867°
Asc Node:345.22°
Arg Peri:273.12°
Abs Magnitude:15.5

145523 Lulin, provisional designation, is a background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.9km (02.4miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 7 March 2006, by Taiwanese astronomers Hung-Chin Lin (林宏欽) and Ye Quanzhi (葉泉志) at Lulin Observatory in central Taiwan. It was named for the Lulin mountain and the observatory site.

Orbit and classification

Lulin is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,664 days; semi-major axis of 2.75 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. The earliest precovery was taken at ESO's La Silla Observatory in March 1992, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 14 years prior to its discovery observation.

Naming

This minor planet was named after the Lulin mountain in central Taiwan, location of the discovering Lulin Observatory at an altitude of 2862 meters. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 April 2007 . At the observatory, Comet Lulin was discovered in 2007.

Physical characteristics

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 3.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo of 0.073, which is rather typical for a carbonaceous C-type body. As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of Lulin has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.

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