2024 McLaughlin

2024 McLaughlin, provisional designation 1952 UR, is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometer in diameter. It was discovered 23 October 1952, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, and named after American astronomer Dean Benjamin McLaughlin.^[2][4]

2024 McLaughlin

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program)
Discovery site	Goethe Link Obs.
Discovery date	23 October 1952
Designations
MPC designation	(2024) McLaughlin
Named after	Dean B. McLaughlin (American astronomer)[2]
Alternative designations	1952 UR · 1938 WP 1982 BX4
Minor planet category	main-belt · Vesta[citation needed]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	78.35 yr (28,619 days)
Aphelion	2.6479 AU
Perihelion	2.0019 AU
Semi-major axis	2.3249 AU
Eccentricity	0.1389
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.54 yr (1,295 days)
Mean anomaly	126.79°
Mean motion	0° 16m 40.8s / day
Inclination	7.3117°
Longitude of ascending node	69.231°
Argument of perihelion	291.34°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	7.915±0.079[3]
Geometric albedo	0.173±0.020[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.9[1]

Orbit and classification

McLaughlin orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,295 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

The asteroid was first identified as 1938 WP at the Finnish Turku Observatory in 1938, extending the body's observation arc by 14 years prior to its official discovery observation.^[4]

Physical characteristics

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid measures 7.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.173.^[3]

As of 2017, McLaughlin's composition, rotation period and shape remain unknown.^[1][5]

Naming

This minor planet was named in memory of American astronomer and geologist Dean Benjamin McLaughlin (1901–1965).^[2]

McLaughlin was an astronomical spectroscopist at Swarthmore College and the University of Michigan, and was the first to thoroughly measure stellar rotation, most notably the rotation of Algol. As a geologist he was one of the first to interpret the telescopically observable markings on Mars, which were later confirmed by direct observations from spacecraft (also see Albedo features). The lunar and Martian crater McLaughlin are also named in his honour.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 6 June 1982 (M.P.C. 6955).^[6]