15460 Manca

15460 Manca (provisional designation 1998 YD₁₀) is a Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 5 kilometers in diameter.

15460 Manca

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	A. Boattini L. Tesi
Discovery site	San Marcello Pistoiese Obs.
Discovery date	25 December 1998
Designations
MPC designation	(15460) Manca
Named after	Francesco Manca (Italian astronomer)[2]
Alternative designations	1998 YD10 · 1994 ET1
Minor planet category	main-belt · Koronis[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	66.30 yr (24,216 days)
Aphelion	3.1671 AU
Perihelion	2.6460 AU
Semi-major axis	2.9065 AU
Eccentricity	0.0896
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.96 yr (1,810 days)
Mean anomaly	316.30°
Mean motion	0° 11m 56.04s / day
Inclination	3.2872°
Longitude of ascending node	92.423°
Argument of perihelion	320.81°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	5.17 km (calculated)[3] 5.354±0.315 km[4][5]
Synodic rotation period	7.2723±0.0209 h[6]
Geometric albedo	0.24 (assumed)[3] 0.2949±0.0586[4] 0.295±0.059[5]
Spectral type	X[7] · S[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.97±0.29[7] · 13.3[4] · 13.6[1][3] · 14.114±0.005 (S)[6]

The asteroid was discovered on 25 December 1998, by Italian astronomers Andrea Boattini and Luciano Tesi at Pistoia Mountains Astronomical Observatory in San Marcello Pistoiese, central Italy.^[8] It was named for Italian amateur astronomer Francesco Manca.^[2]

Orbit and classification

Manca belongs to the Koronis family, a family of stony asteroids in the outer main-belt with nearly ecliptical orbits. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.2 astronomical units (AU) once every 4 years and 12 months (1,810 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

The asteroid's observation arc begins 48 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken at the Palomar Observatory in March 1950.^[8]

Physical characteristics

Manca has also been characterized as an X-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey.^[7]

Rotation period

In August 2012, a rotational lightcurve was obtained for Manca from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory, California. Analysis of the lightcurve gave a rotation period of 7.2723 hours with a brightness variation of 0.22 magnitude (U=2).^[6]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Manca measures 5.35 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.295.^[4][5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a stony standard albedo for members of the Koronis family of 0.24, and calculates a diameter of 5.17 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.6.^[3]

Naming

This minor planet was named for Italian amateur astronomer Francesco Manca (born 1966), member of the "Gruppo Astrofili Brianza" and an active observer of near-Earth objects, and potentially hazardous asteroids in particular, at Sormano Astronomical Observatory in northern Italy.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 13 October 2000 (M.P.C. 41388).^[9]