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32226 Vikulgupta (provisional designation 2000 OQ₂₃) is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3.5 kilometers in diameter.

The asteroid was discovered on 23 July 2000, by the LINEAR team at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States. It was named for Vikul Gupta, a 2016 Intel STS awardee.

Orbit and classification

Vikulgupta is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,295 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.

A first precovery was taken at Whipple Observatory in 1997, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 3 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In February 2013, two rotational lightcurves of Vikulgupta were obtained from photometric observations at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 2.57 and 2.5724 hours with a brightness variation of 0.35 and 0.34 magnitude, respectively (U=2/2).

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Vikulgupta measures 3.8 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.215, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 3.1 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 14.7.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Vikul Gupta (born 1998), a science competition finalist in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search, who was awarded for his computer science project. At the time, he attended the U.S. Oregon Episcopal School in Portland. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 21 May 2016 (M.P.C. 100315).

References

1. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 32226 Vikulgupta (2000 OQ23)" (2017-03-30 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
2. ^ "32226 Vikulgupta (2000 OQ23)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (32226) Vikulgupta". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 24 May 2016.
4. ^ Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
5. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
6. ^ Chang, Chan-Kao; Ip, Wing-Huen; Lin, Hsing-Wen; Cheng, Yu-Chi; Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Yang, Ting-Chang; et al. (June 2014). "313 New Asteroid Rotation Periods from Palomar Transient Factory Observations". The Astrophysical Journal. 788 (1): 21. arXiv:1405.1144. Bibcode:2014ApJ...788...17C. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/17. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
7. ^ Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
8. Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
9. "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 24 May 2016.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (30001)-(35000) – Minor Planet Center
• 32226 Vikulgupta at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 32226 Vikulgupta at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Flora asteroids
• Discoveries by LINEAR
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 2000