2940 Bacon

2940 Bacon
Discovery
Discovered by	Palomar–Leiden survey; C. J. van Houten, I. van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels
Discovery site	Palomar Obs.
Discovery date	24 September 1960
Designations
MPC designation	2940 Bacon
Named after	Francis Bacon
Alternative designations	3042 P–L · 1981 ER3
Minor planet category	main-belt
Orbital characteristics
	Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
	Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	53.69 yr (19609 days)
Aphelion	3.4382 AU (514.35 Gm)
Perihelion	2.1277 AU (318.30 Gm)
Semi-major axis	2.7830 AU (416.33 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.23544
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.64 yr (1695.7 d)
Mean anomaly	309.60°
Mean motion	0° 12m 44.28s / day
Inclination	6.4412°
Longitude of ascending node	273.77°
Argument of perihelion	116.80°
Earth MOID	1.14147 AU (170.761 Gm)
Jupiter MOID	2.06112 AU (308.339 Gm)
TJupiter	3.282
Physical characteristics
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.2

2940 Bacon, also designated 3042 P–L, is an asteroid from the asteroid belt that was discovered on September 24, 1960 by Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,696 days). The orbit is rather eccentric (0.24).^[1]

The designation P–L stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld at Leiden Observatory. The trio are credited with several thousand asteroid discoveries.

It was named in honour of English scholar Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626).^[2] He has been called the father of empiricism and his works established and popularized the scientific method.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2940 Bacon (3042 P-L)" (2014-06-02 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
^ ^a ^b Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2940) Bacon. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 242. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved 22 October 2015.

External links

Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
2940 Bacon at the JPL Small-Body Database
- Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

This article about an asteroid native to the asteroid belt is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[jpldata-1] "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2940 Bacon (3042 P-L)" (2014-06-02 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 15 April 2016.

[springer-2] Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2940) Bacon. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 242. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. Retrieved 22 October 2015.

[1]

[2]