4450 Pan

For the moon of Saturn, see Pan (moon). For other uses, see Pan (disambiguation).

4450 Pan

Discovery
Discovered by	C. Shoemaker E. Shoemaker
Discovery site	Palomar Obs.
Discovery date	25 September 1987
Designations
MPC designation	4450 Pan
Named after	Pan (Greek deity)
Alternative names	1987 SY · 1937 CA
Minor planet category	Apollo · NEO · PHA
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 27 June 2015 (JD 2457200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	28.22 yr (10,306 days)
Aphelion	2.2882 AU
Perihelion	0.5964 AU
Semi-major axis	1.4423 AU
Eccentricity	0.5864
Orbital period	1.73 yr (633 days)
Mean anomaly	57.487°
Inclination	5.5197°
Longitude of ascending node	311.85°
Argument of perihelion	291.77°
Earth MOID	0.0285 AU
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	1.0±0.2 km 1.13 km (calculated)
Rotation period	56.48±0.02 h 60±12 h 3.51±0.02 h
Geometric albedo	0.20 (assumed)
Spectral type	S
Absolute magnitude (H)	17.1

4450 Pan, provisional designation 1987 SY, is a highly eccentric, contact-binary asteroid, classified as a near-Earth and potentially hazardous object. It belongs to the group of Apollo asteroids and measures about 1.1 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 September 1987, by American astronomers Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the U.S Palomar Observatory in California.

The stony S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.6–2.3 AU once every 633 days (1 year and 9 months). Its orbit is tilted by 6 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic and shows an exceptionally high eccentricity of 0.59. In 2013, a photometric light-curve analysis at the U.S. Palmer Divide Station in Colorado rendered a relatively long rotation period of 56.48±0.02 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.64 in magnitude, superseding two less accurate observations. The asteroid's surface has an assumed albedo of 0.20, which is typical for bodies of stony composition. As an Apollo asteroid, it is an Earth-crosser and has a minimum orbit intersection distance with Earth of 0.0285 AU. In addition, due to its extremely eccentric orbit, it is also a Venus- and Mars-crosser and approaches Mercury within 20 Gm.

The asteroid is a contact binary, composed of two lobes in mutual contact, held together only by their weak gravitational attraction, and typically show a dumbbell-like shape (also see 4769 Castalia). A large number of near-Earth objects are believe to be contact binaries.

The minor planet was named after the Greek god of nature and wild animals, Pan, represented in art as a horned half-man, half goat. He developed from a shepherd god into a hunter, fisherman and warrior, and was worshiped by the citizens of Athens, after he had spread panic through the invading Persian armies in the Battle of Marathon (also see 4356 Marathon). The name Pan has also been given to Saturn XVIII, one of the moons of Saturn.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 4450 Pan at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters