4659 Roddenberry, provisional designation , is an asteroid located in the inner region of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 2 March 1981, by American astronomer Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. The likely S-type asteroid has an unsecured rotation period of 12 hours. It was named for American screenwriter Gene Roddenberry.
Orbit and classification The asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,334 days; semi-major axis of 2.37 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. Roddenberry is a member of the Nysa–Polana complex, a collection of overlapping asteroid families in the inner main belt. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in February 1977, or four years prior to its official discovery observation at Siding Spring.
Rotation period
In the 1990s, a fragmentary rotational lightcurve of Roddenberry was obtained from photometric observations by Richard Binzel. Lightcurve analysis gave a highly uncertain rotation period of 12 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.14 magnitude (). As of 2018, no secure period has been obtained.
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Roddenberry measures 3.622 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.193, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20, and derives a diameter of 3.56 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.61.
Naming
This minor planet was named in memory of famous American screenwriter, producer and futurist, Gene Roddenberry (1921–1991), known for the Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, and for the Star Trek film franchise. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 February 1992 ().
References
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