Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | H. L. Giclas |
Discovery site | Flagstaff (LO) |
Discovery date | 22 October 1960 |
Designations | |
MPC designation | 2061 Anza |
Named after
|
Juan Bautista de Anza |
1960 UA | |
Amor, NEO | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
Observation arc | 55.35 yr (20217 days) |
Aphelion | 3.4817 AU (520.85 Gm) |
Perihelion | 1.0491 AU (156.94 Gm) |
2.2654 AU (338.90 Gm) | |
Eccentricity | 0.53691 |
3.41 yr (1245.4 d) | |
78.911° | |
0° 17m 20.616s / day | |
Inclination | 3.7734° |
207.60° | |
156.52° | |
Earth MOID | 0.0526154 AU (7.87115 Gm) |
Jupiter MOID | 1.98206 AU (296.512 Gm) |
Jupiter Tisserand parameter | 3.408 |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 2.6 km |
Mean radius
|
1.3 km |
11.50 h (0.479 d) | |
B–V = 0.825 U–B = 0.350 Tholen = TCG |
|
16.56 | |
2061 Anza, provisionally designated 1960 UA, is an Amor asteroid, a subtype of near-Earth object (NEO), estimated to measure about 2.6 kilometers in diameter, based on an assumed dark albedo of 0.06. It was discovered on October 22, 1960 by American astronomer Henry Giclas at Lowell's Flagstaff Observatory in Arizona, United States. The very eccentric NEO orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.05–3.48 AU once every 3.41 years (1,245 days) and rotates every 11 hours and 30 minutes around its axis. Its spectral type is TCG on the Tholen scale.
The asteroid has an Earth minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.054 AU. It passed Earth at 0.0634 AU (9,480,000 km; 5,890,000 mi) on October 7, 1960 and was tracked for a period of 3.5 months to determine a better orbit. It was not observed again until its next near-Earth approach of 1977.
The Armor-type NEO is named after Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, born in 1736 southeast of Tucson, Arizona, then New Spain. He became the commander at the Spanish fortification Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac and explored the first overland route from southern Arizona to Monterey, California.