13070 Seanconnery

13070 Seanconnery, provisional designation 1991 RO₂, is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 September 1991, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at Haute-Provence Observatory, St. Michael, in southeast France.^[8] The asteroid was named after actor Sean Connery.^[2]

13070 Seanconnery

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	E. W. Elst
Discovery site	Haute-Provence Obs.
Discovery date	8 September 1991
Designations
MPC designation	(13070) Seanconnery
Named after	Sean Connery (Scottish actor)[2]
Alternative designations	1991 RO2 · 1127 T-1
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner)[3] background
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	46.20 yr (16,873 days)
Aphelion	3.1052 AU
Perihelion	1.7521 AU
Semi-major axis	2.4287 AU
Eccentricity	0.2786
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.78 yr (1,382 days)
Mean anomaly	324.53°
Mean motion	0° 15m 37.44s / day
Inclination	5.6226°
Longitude of ascending node	205.71°
Argument of perihelion	131.76°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	1.764±0.130 km[4][5] 3.57 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	7.085±0.001 h[6]
Geometric albedo	0.20 (assumed)[3] 0.900±0.095[4][5]
Spectral type	S (assumed)[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.5[4] · 14.6[3] · 14.7[1] · 15.12±0.20[7]

Orbit and classification

Seanconnery is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,382 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 6° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] The asteroid's observation arc begins 20 years prior to its official discovery observation, with its identification 1127 T-1 made during the first Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1971.^[8]

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

In August 2006, a rotational lightcurve of Seanconnery was obtained from photometric observations made at the Hunters Hill Observatory (E14) in Ngunnawal, Australia. The lightcurve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7.085 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18 in magnitude (U=3-).^[6]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Seanconnery has an outstandingly high albedo of 0.90 and a diameter of 1.8 kilometers.^[4][5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter 3.6 kilometers, as the lower the albedo (reflectivity), the larger an asteroid's diameter for a certain absolute magnitude (brightness).^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named for celebrated Scottish actor and Academy Award winner Sean Connery (1930–2020), famous for portraying the character James Bond – after which the minor planet 9007 James Bond is named, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. With this minor planet, he is especially honored by the discoverer for his performance as the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville in The Name of the Rose.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 9 March 2001 (M.P.C. 42362).^[9]