3015 Candy

For the comet of the same name, see C/1960 Y1 (Candy).

3015 Candy (prov. designation: 1980 VN) is a background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 9 November 1980, by British-American astronomer Edward Bowell at Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona.^[13] The asteroid was named after British astronomer Michael P. Candy.^[2]

3015 Candy

Shape model of Candy from its lightcurve
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	E. Bowell
Discovery site	Anderson Mesa Stn.
Discovery date	9 November 1980
Designations
MPC designation	(3015) Candy
Named after	Michael P. Candy (British astronomer)[2]
Alternative designations	1980 VN · 1974 VL2 1974 XC · 1984 HS
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer) [1][3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	52.17 yr (19,056 days)
Aphelion	3.9747 AU
Perihelion	2.7983 AU
Semi-major axis	3.3865 AU
Eccentricity	0.1737
Orbital period (sidereal)	6.23 yr (2,276 days)
Mean anomaly	0.7451°
Mean motion	0° 9m 29.52s / day
Inclination	17.402°
Longitude of ascending node	38.162°
Argument of perihelion	300.96°
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	24.517±0.470 km[4][5] 33.54 km (calculated)[3]
Synodic rotation period	4.6249±0.0001 h[6] 4.625±0.001 h[7] 4.62501±0.00004 h[8] 4.62516 h[9][10] 4.625223 h[11]
Pole ecliptic latitude	(142.0°, −26.0°) (λ1/β1)[11] (346.0°, −70.0°) (λ2/β2)[11]
Geometric albedo	0.057 (assumed)[3] 0.1067±0.0173[4][5]
Spectral type	C (assumed)[3]
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.1[1][3][5] · 11.14±0.34[12]

Orbit and classification

Candy is a background asteroid that does not belong to any known asteroid family. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–4.0 AU once every 6 years and 3 months (2,276 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 17° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Goethe Link Observatory in May 1965, more than 15 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.^[13]

Naming

This minor planet was named after Michael P. Candy (1928–1994) a British astronomer and discoverer of minor planets and comets, who was a director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory and Perth Observatory.^[2] As a long-time astrometrist and orbit computer, he discovered comet C/1960 Y1 (Candy) at Greenwich, as well as the minor planet 3898 Curlewis, 3893 DeLaeter and 3894 Williamcooke. He was also president of IAU's Commission VI.^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 June 1986 (M.P.C. 10845).^[14]

Physical characteristics

Candy is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid.^[3]

Lightcurves

Several rotational lightcurves of Candy were obtained from photometric observations by astronomer Maurice Clark. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period between 4.6249 and 4.62516 hours with a brightness variation between 0.50 and 1.05 magnitude (U=3/3/3/3/3). (A high brightness amplitude typically indicates that a body has a non-spheroidal shape.)^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

A 2016-published lightcurve, using modeled photometric data from the Lowell Photometric Database (LPD), gave a concurring period of 4.625223 hours (U=2), as well as two spin axis of (142.0°, −26.0°) and (346.0°, −70.0°) in ecliptic coordinates (λ, β).^[11] Clark's spin modeling also suggests that Candy has a retrograde rotation, and a spin axis of (306.0°, 43.0.0°), that is nearly aligned with the body's shortest axis.^[10]

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Candy measures 24.517 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.1067,^[4][5] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous of 0.057, and calculates a diameter of 33.54 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.1.^[3]