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31249 Renéefleming (provisional designation 1998 DF₁₄) is a dark Zhongguo asteroid from the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 27 February 1998, by astronomers with the ODAS survey conducted at the CERGA Observatory near Caussols, France. The presumed C-type asteroid has a short rotation period of 3.34 hours. It was named for American soprano Renée Fleming.

Orbit and classification

Renéefleming is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population, and a member of the small group of Zhongguo asteroids, located in the Hecuba gap and locked in a 2:1 mean-motion resonance with the gas giant Jupiter. Contrary to the nearby Griqua group, the orbits of the Zhongguos are stable over half a billion years.

It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.4–4.1 AU once every 5 years and 10 months (2,137 days; semi-major axis of 3.25 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.27 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its first observations at Mount Wilson Observatory in April 1934, almost 64 years prior to its official discovery observation at Caussols.

Physical characteristics

Renéefleming is an assumed C-type asteroid, which agrees with the body's albedo (see below).

Rotation period

In December 2014, a rotational lightcurve of Renéefleming was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a short rotation period of 3.34 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.12 magnitude (U=2-).

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Renéefleming measures 6.973 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.053, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 6.08 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.81.

Numbering and naming

This minor planet was numbered by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) on 30 November 2001, after its orbit had sufficiently been secured (M.P.C. 44038). It was named after American soprano Renée Fleming (born 1959) known for her roles in classical operas by Richard Strauss, Mozart, Handel, Verdi and Dvorak, as well as more modern pieces. The official naming citation was published by the MPC on 29 May 2018 (M.P.C. 110615).

References

1. ^ "31249 Reneefleming (1998 DF14)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
2. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 31249 Reneefleming (1998 DF14)" (2015-05-22 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
3. ^ "LCDB Data for (31249)". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 26 April 2018.
4. ^ Roig, F.; Nesvorný, D.; Ferraz-Mello, S. (September 2002). "Asteroids in the 2 : 1 resonance with Jupiter: dynamics and size distribution [ Erratum: 2002MNRAS.336.1391R ]". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 335 (2): 417–431. Bibcode:2002MNRAS.335..417R. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05635.x.
5. ^ "Asteroid (31249) Renéefleming – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
6. ^ Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Grav, T.; Bauer, J. M.; Cutri, R. M.; Dailey, J.; et al. (November 2011). "Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 20. arXiv:1109.4096. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...68M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68. S2CID 118745497.
7. ^ Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. S2CID 35447010.
8. ^ Chang, Chan-Kao; Lin, Hsing-Wen; Ip, Wing-Huen; Prince, Thomas A.; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Levitan, David; et al. (December 2016). "Large Super-fast Rotator Hunting Using the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 227 (2): 13. arXiv:1608.07910. Bibcode:2016ApJS..227...20C. doi:10.3847/0067-0049/227/2/20.
9. Veres, Peter; Jedicke, Robert; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Granvik, Mikael; Bolin, Bryce; et al. (November 2015). "Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results". Icarus. 261: 34–47. arXiv:1506.00762. Bibcode:2015Icar..261...34V. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.007. S2CID 53493339.
10. "Asteroid 31249 Renéefleming". Small Bodies Data Ferret. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
11. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 26 April 2018.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (30001)-(35000) – Minor Planet Center
• 31249 Renéefleming at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 31249 Renéefleming at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Zhongguo asteroids
• Background asteroids
• Discoveries by ODAS
• Named minor planets
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1998