6084 Bascom, provisional designation 1985 CT, is a binary[a] Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 12 February 1985, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at Palomar Observatory in California.[12] It is named after American geologist Florence Bascom.[2] Its satellite measures approximately 2.3 kilometers (0.37 Ds/Dp) and has an orbital period of 43.51 hours.[5]
Orbit and classification
Bascom is a stony S-type asteroid and member of the Phocaea family (701),[4] a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.8–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,286 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] A first precovery was taken at Palomar in 1950, extending the body's observation arc by 30 years prior to its official discovery observation.[12]
Diameter
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Bascom measures 6.17 and 6.347 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.22 and 0.26, respectively.[6][7][8] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL) adopts Petr Pravec's revised WISE-data, that is, an albedo of 0.2091 and a diameter of 6.39 kilometers for an absolute magnitude of 13.29.[3][9]
The observations revealed, that Bascom is a synchronous binary asteroid that has a moon orbiting its primary every 43.5 hours. Mutual asteroid occultation and eclipsing events with a magnitude between 0.12 and 0.18 suggest, that the satellite's diameter is 37±2% of that of Bascom (a secondary-to-primary diameter ratio of 0.37), which translates into a mean-diameter of 2.3 kilometers for the minor-planet moon. The photometric observations had an average absolute magnitude of 12.8.[5][a]
Since Bascom's first observation in December 2005, astronomer Peter Pravec has obtained additional lightcurves. They gave a refined rotation period for the primary of 2.74516 to 2.74544 hours with a brightness variation between 0.14 and 0.23 magnitude (U=3/3/3).[10][b] These observations also confirmed the presence of the satellite giving a concurring orbital period of 43.51 hours.[10] For an asteroid of its size, Bascom has a relatively fast spin rate, but still above those of fast rotators. CALL adopts a rotation period of 2.74542 hours.[3]
^ abcdCentral Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams – CBET No. 389 Photometric observations obtained between 29 December 2005 and 2 February 2006, reveal, that 6084 Bascom is a binary system with an orbital period of 43.5 hours. The primary rotates with a period of 2.7454 hours. The lightcurve's amplitude is 0.22 magnitude. Mutual eclipse and occultation events between 0.12 and 0.18 magnitude, suggest a secondary-to-primary mean-diameter ratio of 0.37±0.02. The system's mean absolute R magnitude is 12.8±0.1. Reported by: David Higgins (Hunters Hill Obs., Canberra, Australia), Petr Pravec, Peter Kušnirák, and Lenka Šarounová (Ondřejov Obs., Czech Republic) and Štefan Gajdoš, Adrián Galád and Jozef Világi (Modra Obs., Slovakia)