7796 Járacimrman

Minor Planet
name=7796 Járacimrman
discoverer=Zdeněk Moravec
discovery_date=16 January 1996
designations=1996 BG; 1990 VG;
mp|1973 YE|3
category=Main belt (IIa family)
epoch=June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5)
semimajor=398.580 Gm (2.664 AU)
perihelion=341.291 Gm (2.281 AU)
aphelion=455.868 Gm (3.047 AU)
eccentricity=0.144
period=1588.485 d (4.35 a)
inclination=12.806°
asc_node=93.908°
arg_peri=42.445°
mean_anomaly=131.117°
speed=18.15 km/s
dimensions=12.54 km
mass=3.1–35?e|14 kg
density=2? g/cm³
gravity=0.0019–0.0042? m/s²
escape_velocity=0.0035–0.0079? km/s
rotation=? d
spectral_class=?
abs_mag=13.6
albedo=0.0408
temperature=~186–176 K

7796 Járacimrman (pronounced|ˈjaːratsɪmr̩man in Czech; sometimes spelt Jaracimrman) is an asteroid orbiting in the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. It belongs among the IIa family of asteroids. It cannot approach the Earth nearer than 197 million km.

The discovery

The asteroid was discovered on the Kleť Observatory (Czech Republic) on 16 January 1996 by Zdeněk Moravec and was designated 1996 BG. It was observed until April 1996 and then in June and July 1997. It was discovered to be a lost asteroid which had previously been observed twice: at the Brera-Merate Observatory in northern Italy on 12 December 1973 and at Mount Stromlo Observatory (near Canberra, Australia) on 8 and 9 July 1990.

In 1997 its orbit was determined more precisely by a number of other observatories and thus it could be numbered as asteroid 7796. It became the 312th numbered asteroid discovered at the Kleť Observatory, and Moravec suggested to name it after the fictional Czech genius Jára Cimrman.

The citation accompanying the suggestion said: "Named for Jára Cimrman, a fictitious Czech genius. An analogue to Leonardo da Vinci, he was a playwright, composer, poet, painter, versatile scientist, inventor, polar explorer, sportsman, first man on the moon, etc. Although his name is not mentioned in any encyclopedia, his work is explored at the Jára Cimrman Theatre in Prague. This theatre is headed by the famous cimrmanologists Z. Svěrák and L. Smoljak, who endorsed the name proposal." [http://www.klet.org/names/view.php3?astnum=7796]

The IAU Committee on Small Body Nomenclature approved this name in 1998.

Physical characteristics

On the basis of its absolute magnitude in the visible light spectrum and albedo the diameter of the asteroid 7796 Járacimrman can be estimated 12.54 km. Since astronomers do not have the spectral data on the asteroid, neither its chemical nor mineralogical composition is known.

External links

* [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=Jaracimrman;orb=1 7796 Járacimrman at JPL Small Body Database Browser]
* [http://www.klet.org/names/view.php3?astnum=7796 Asteroid 7796 Járacimrman in Kleť minor planets database]
* [http://planetky.astro.cz/detail.phtml?number=7796 Asteroid 7796 Járacimrman in Planetky z našich luhů a hájů] (in Czech language)

References

* [ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html Lowell Observatory asteroid orbital elements database]
* [http://hamilton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/astdys/astibo?orbital_elements:0;main AstDys asteroid orbital elements database]
* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances]
* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/Sizes.html Conversion of Absolute Magnitude to Diameter]