| Minorplanet: | yes |
| 2797 Teucer | |
| Background: |
|
| Discovery Ref: |   |
| Discovered: | 4 June 1981 |
| Mpc Name: | (2797) Teucer |
| Alt Names: | 1981 LK1940 YG 1978 EQ |
| Adjective: | Teucerian (Teucrian) |
| Pronounced: | [1] |
| Mp Category: | Jupiter trojan  |
| Orbit Ref: |   |
| Epoch: | 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) |
| Uncertainty: | 0 |
| Observation Arc: | 77.40 yr (28,272 d) |
| Perihelion: | 4.6574 AU |
| Semimajor: | 5.1046 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.0876 |
| Period: | 11.53 yr (4,213 d) |
| Mean Motion: | / day |
| Inclination: | 22.391° |
| Asc Node: | 69.934° |
| Arg Peri: | 49.042° |
| Jupiter Moid: | 0.0174 AU |
| Tisserand: | 2.8440 |
| Mean Diameter: | |
| Albedo: | |
| Abs Magnitude: | 8.40 8.7 |
2797 Teucer is a large Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 110km (70miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 June 1981, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States. The dark D-type asteroid belongs to the 20 largest Jupiter trojans and has a rotation period of 10.15 hours. It was named after the Greek hero and great archer, Teucer.
Teucer is a dark Jovian asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of its orbit in a 1:1 resonance . It is also a non-family asteroid in the Jovian background population.
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.7–5.6 AU once every 11 years and 6 months (4,213 days; semi-major axis of 5.1 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic.
The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as at Turku Observatory in December 1940, more than 40 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.
This minor planet was named after the Greek hero Teucer, from Greek mythology. The son of King Telamon was a great archer and half-brother of Ajax, with whom he fought alongside in the Trojan War. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 17 February 1984 .
Teucer has been characterized as a dark D-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS' survey as well as in the SDSS-based taxonomy. It is also an assumed C-type asteroid.
Several rotational lightcurves of Teucer have been obtained from photometric observations since 1992. Analysis of the best-rated lightcurve from September 2010, by Daniel Coley at the Center for Solar System Studies gave a well-defined rotation period of hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.20 magnitude .
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Teucer measures between 89.43 and 113.99 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.059 and 0.073.
The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an albedo of 0.0435 and a diameter of 110.72 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.8. In June 2014, an observed asteroid occultation gave a cross-section of (poor fit).