2131 Mayall

2131 Mayall (1975 RA) is an inner main-belt asteroid discovered on September 3, 1975, by Arnold Klemola at the Lick Observatory and named in honor of Nicholas U. Mayall (1906–1993), director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory during 1960–1971, who also worked at Lick for many years.^[1][2] It is about 8 km (~5 miles) in diameter.^[6]

2131 Mayall

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	A. R. Klemola
Discovery site	Lick Obs.
Discovery date	3 September 1975
Designations
MPC designation	(2131) Mayall
Named after	Nicholas Mayall[2]
Alternative designations	1975 RA
Minor planet category	main-belt · (inner)
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	41.05 yr (14,994 days)
Aphelion	2.0970 AU
Perihelion	1.6775 AU
Semi-major axis	1.8873 AU
Eccentricity	0.1111
Orbital period (sidereal)	2.59 yr (947 days)
Mean anomaly	78.045°
Mean motion	0° 22m 48.36s / day
Inclination	33.987°
Longitude of ascending node	306.05°
Argument of perihelion	38.552°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	7.8 km (IRAS:3)[3] 8.252±0.040[4]
Synodic rotation period	2.5678 h[5]
Geometric albedo	0.2391±0.031 (IRAS:3)[3] 0.244±0.019[4]
Spectral type	S (Tholen)[1] S (SMASS)[1] S[5] B–V = 0.871[1] U–B = 0.450[1]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.72[1]

Photometric measurements of the asteroid made in 2005 at the Palmer Divide Observatory showed a light curve with a period of 2.572 ± 0.002 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 ± 0.02 in magnitude.^[7]

This led to a follow-up investigation in 2006, when another light curve was recorded.^[6] These observations did not indicate a binary asteroid type, but did add to the data set available for this asteroid; this asteroid is part of the Hungaria group.^[6]

See also

• Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope (telescope named after the same astronomer)