8116 Jeanperrin

Lore & Background

8116 Jeanperrin is a member of the Flora family (402), a giant asteroid family and the largest family of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.9–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,233 days; semi-major axis of 2.25 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its first observations as 1987 WU3 at Anderson Mesa Station in November 1987, more than 8 years prior to its official discovery observation at La Silla.

Jeanperrin is an assumed S-type asteroid, which agrees with the overall spectral type for members of the Flora family. In October 2007, a rotational lightcurve was obtained from photometric observations by a large international collaboration of astronomers. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 3.6169 hours and a low brightness variation of 0.09 magnitude, indicative of a nearly spheroidal shape. Additional observations by Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory in 2007 and 2017 rendered a nearly identical period of 3.6169 and 3.61692 hours with an amplitude of 0.09 and 0.10 magnitude, respectively.

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Jeanperrin measures between 3.66 and 4.797 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.1841 and 0.437. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts Petr Pravec's revised WISE data, that is, an albedo of 0.1841 and a (rounded) diameter of 4.80 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.05.

Reader's Guide

8116 Jeanperrin is significant as a synchronous binary asteroid, with a minor-planet moon discovered during photometric observations in October 2007. The satellite measures approximately 1.49 kilometers in diameter (ds/dp-ratio of at least 0.33) and orbits its primary at an estimated average distance of 13 kilometers once every 36.15 hours (1.506 days). This binary nature adds to the understanding of asteroid systems in the inner belt. The asteroid was named after French physicist Jean Baptiste Perrin (1870–1942), who was awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies of Brownian motion. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 February 1998 (M.P.C. 31299). Its membership in the Flora family, a large stony asteroid family, provides context for its composition and orbital dynamics. The lightcurve data, showing a nearly spheroidal shape and consistent rotation period, contribute to knowledge of asteroid shapes and spin states.

Did You Know?

• 8116 Jeanperrin is a synchronous binary asteroid with a moon about 1.49 km in diameter.
• It was discovered on 17 April 1996 by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at La Silla Observatory in Chile.
• The asteroid is named after French physicist and Nobel laureate Jean Baptiste Perrin.
• Its rotation period is 3.62 hours, and it has a nearly round shape.