14871 Pyramus

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox planet

| minorplanet = yes

| name = 14871 Pyramus

| background = #D6D6D6

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| discovery_ref =

| discovered = 13 October 1990

| discoverer = L. D. Schmadel
F. Börngen

| discovery_site = Karl Schwarzschild Obs.

| mpc_name = (14871) Pyramus

| alt_names = {{mp|1990 TH|7}}{{·}}{{mp|1972 TJ|3}}
{{mp|1978 TW|4}}

| named_after = Pyramus
{{small|(Classical mythology)}}

| mp_category = main-belt{{·}}{{small|(outer)}}
{{nowrap|background{{·}}Zhongguo}}

| orbit_ref =

| epoch = 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)

| uncertainty = 0

| observation_arc = 62.73 yr (22,913 d)

| aphelion = 4.0337 AU

| perihelion = 2.5706 AU

| semimajor = 3.3021 AU

| eccentricity = 0.2215

| period = 6.00 yr (2,192 d)

| mean_anomaly = 266.76°

| mean_motion = {{Deg2DMS|0.1643|sup=ms}} / day

| inclination = 0.9882°

| asc_node = 5.9989°

| arg_peri = 314.20°

| mean_diameter = {{val|9}} km {{small|(estimated at 0.06)}}
{{val|9.180|0.302}}

| rotation =

| albedo = {{val|0.069|0.020}}

| spectral_type =

| abs_magnitude = 13.9

}}

14871 Pyramus, provisional designation {{mp|1990 TH|7}}, is a dark Zhongguo asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately {{convert|9|km|mi|abbr=off|sigfig=1|sp=us}} in diameter. It was discovered on 13 October 1990 by German astronomers Lutz Schmadel and Freimut Börngen at the Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in Tautenburg, Germany. The asteroid was named for Pyramus from classical mythology.

Orbit and classification

Pyramus is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It is a member of the small group of Zhongguo asteroids, located in the 2 : 1 mean motion resonance with the giant planet Jupiter. Contrary to the nearby unstable Griqua group, the orbits of the Zhongguos are stable over half a billion years.

It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.6–4.0 AU once every 6.00 years (2,192 days; semi-major axis of 3.3 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 1° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1954, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 36 years prior to its discovery.

Physical characteristics

= Diameter and albedo =

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Pyramus measures 9.2 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.069. This is in line with a generic absolute magnitude-to-diameter conversion that gives a diameter of 4 to 9 kilometers for an albedo between 0.05 and 0.25.

= Lightcurves =

As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve has been obtained of Pyramus. The asteroid's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.

Naming

This minor planet was named from Greco-Roman mythology after Pyramus, the lover of Thisbe (see minor planet 88 Thisbe) from which the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ultimately originated. As narrated in Ovid's Metamorphoses, the two ill-fated lovers committed suicide as their parents were against their marriage. The asteroid's name was proposed by Austrian amateur astronomer Herbert Raab. The citation mentions that the "two lovers are now finally united forever in the asteroid belt". The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 January 2003 ({{small|M.P.C. 47301}}).

References

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite web

|type = 2017-03-27 last obs.

|title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 14871 Pyramus (1990 TH7)

|url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2014871

|publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory

|access-date = 26 June 2017}}

{{cite book

|title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (14871) Pyramus, Addendum to Fifth Edition: 2003–2005

|last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D.

|publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg

|pages = 88–89

|date = 2006

|isbn = 978-3-540-34360-8

|doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-34361-5_897 |chapter = (14871) Pyramus [3.29, 0.23, 1.0] }}

{{cite web

|title = 14871 Pyramus (1990 TH7)

|work = Minor Planet Center

|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=14871

|access-date = 6 April 2016}}

{{cite web

|title = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive

|work = Minor Planet Center

|url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html

|access-date = 20 May 2016}}

{{cite web

|title = Asteroid 14871 Pyramus – Proper Elements

|publisher = AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site

|url = https://newton.spacedys.com/astdys/index.php?pc=1.1.6&n=14871

|access-date= 29 October 2019}}

{{cite journal

|first1 = F. |last1 = Roig

|first2 = D. |last2 = Nesvorný

|first3 = S. |last3 = Ferraz-Mello

|date = September 2002

|title = Asteroids in the 2 : 1 resonance with Jupiter: dynamics and size distribution [ Erratum: 2002MNRAS.336.1391R ]

|journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

|volume = 335

|issue = 2

|pages = 417–431

|bibcode = 2002MNRAS.335..417R

|doi = 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05635.x

|doi-access = free

}}

{{cite journal

|first1 = F. |last1 = Roig

|first2 = D. |last2 = Nesvorný

|first3 = S. |last3 = Ferraz-Mello

|date = November 2002

|title = Erratum: Asteroids in the 2 : 1 resonance with Jupiter: dynamics and size distribution

|journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

|volume = 336

|issue = 4

|pages = 1391–1392

|bibcode = 2002MNRAS.336.1391R

|doi = 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.06105.x

|doi-access= free

}}

{{cite web

|title = Absolute Magnitude (H)

|publisher = NASA/JPL

|url = http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/glossary/h.html

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010302182040/http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/glossary/h.html

|archive-date = 2 March 2001

|access-date= 6 April 2016}}

{{cite journal

|display-authors = 6

|first1 = Joseph R. |last1 = Masiero

|first2 = A. K. |last2 = Mainzer

|first3 = T. |last3 = Grav

|first4 = J. M. |last4 = Bauer

|first5 = R. M. |last5 = Cutri

|first6 = J. |last6 = Dailey

|first7 = P. R. M. |last7 = Eisenhardt

|first8 = R. S. |last8 = McMillan

|first9 = T. B. |last9 = Spahr

|first10 = M. F. |last10 = Skrutskie

|first11 = D. |last11 = Tholen

|first12 = R. G. |last12 = Walker

|first13 = E. L. |last13 = Wright

|first14 = E. |last14 = DeBaun

|first15 = D. |last15 = Elsbury

|first16 = T. IV |last16 = Gautier

|first17 = S. |last17 = Gomillion

|first18 = A. |last18 = Wilkins

|date = November 2011

|title = Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters

|url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2011ApJ...741...68M

|journal = The Astrophysical Journal

|volume = 741

|issue = 2

|page = 20

|bibcode = 2011ApJ...741...68M

|doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68

|arxiv = 1109.4096

|access-date= 3 December 2016}}

{{cite web

|title = LCDB Data for (14871) Pyramus

|publisher = Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)

|url = http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=14871%7CPyramus

|access-date = 26 June 2017}}

}}