3563 Canterbury

3563 Canterbury

Discovery
Discovered by	A. C. Gilmore P. M. Kilmartin
Discovery site	MJUO (Mount John)
Discovery date	23 March 1985
Designations
MPC designation	3563 Canterbury
Named after	Canterbury (province)
Alternative names	1985 FE; 1978 VL6
Minor planet category	main-belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	36.85 yr (13,460 days)
Aphelion	3.2948 AU
Perihelion	2.2872 AU
Semi-major axis	2.7910 AU
Eccentricity	0.1804
Orbital period	4.66 yr (1703.1 days)
Mean anomaly	114.23°
Inclination	6.9537°
Longitude of ascending node	267.78°
Argument of perihelion	346.14°
Earth MOID	1.2731 AU
Physical characteristics
Rotation period	15.5527 h
Spectral type	Ch (SMASSII)
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.6 mag

3563 Canterbury, provisionally known as 1985 FE, is a main belt asteroid with a perihelion of 2.29 AU. It has an eccentricity of 0.180 and an orbital period of 1,703 days (4.66 years).

Canterbury has an average orbital speed of 17.81462866 km/s and an inclination of 6.94642°.

The asteroid was discovered on March 23, 1985, by Alan C. Gilmore and Pamela M. Kilmartin, both from the Mount John University Observatory (MJUO) in New Zealand.

It is named after New Zealand's Canterbury Province, on the eastern side of the South Island. The name also honors the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, of which MJUO is a field station. The region was named after the Canterbury Association formed in England in 1848 with the purpose of organizing an idealized Anglican settlement in New Zealand.