10476 Los Molinos

10476 Los Molinos (provisional designation 1981 EY₃₈) is a stony background asteroid and slow rotator from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 2 March 1981, by American astronomer Schelte Bus at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. The asteroid was named for the Los Molinos Observatory in Uruguay.^[2]

10476 Los Molinos

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	S. J. Bus
Discovery site	Siding Spring Obs.
Discovery date	2 March 1981
Designations
MPC designation	(10476) Los Molinos
Named after	Los Molinos Observatory[2] (Uruguayan observatory)
Alternative designations	1981 EY38 · 1978 NB3
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner)[3] background[4]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	39.31 yr (14,358 days)
Aphelion	2.9165 AU
Perihelion	1.7185 AU
Semi-major axis	2.3175 AU
Eccentricity	0.2585
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.53 yr (1,289 days)
Mean anomaly	95.559°
Mean motion	0° 16m 45.84s / day
Inclination	9.4472°
Longitude of ascending node	249.86°
Argument of perihelion	38.678°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	2.853±0.014 km[5][6] 2.96 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	267.906±1.9703 h[7]
Geometric albedo	0.20 (assumed)[3] 0.3424±0.0425[5][6]
Spectral type	S[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.4[6] · 14.556±0.003 (R)[7] · 14.6[1] · 15.01[3] · 15.33±0.50[8]

Orbit and classification

Los Molinos is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.^[4] It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.7–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,289 days; semi-major axis of 2.32 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.26 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] The body's observation arc begins with its first observations as 1978 NB₃ at Crimea–Nauchnij in July 1978.^[2]

Physical characteristics

Based on its high albedo and its location within the asteroid belt, Los Molinos is an assumed S-type asteroid.^[3]

Rotation period

In August 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Los Molinos was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 267.906±1.9703 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.33 magnitude (U=2).^[7] This makes Los Molinos one of the top 200 slow rotators known to exist.^[3]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Los Molinos measures 2.853 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a high albedo of 0.34.^[5][6]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 2.96 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 15.01.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named after the Los Molinos Observatory (844) located near Montevideo in Uruguay. The observatory is known for its astrometric follow-up observations of asteroids and comets.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 13 April 2017 (M.P.C. 103975/103976).^[9]