5900 Jensen

5900 Jensen, provisional designation 1986 TL, is a dark Lixiaohua asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 19 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 October 1986, by Danish astronomer Poul Jensen at the Brorfelde Observatory in Denmark.^[6] The asteroid was named for the discoverer and his wife Bodil Jensen.

5900 Jensen

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	P. Jensen
Discovery site	Brorfelde Obs.
Discovery date	3 October 1986
Designations
MPC designation	(5900) Jensen
Named after	Paul and Bodil Jensen[2] (discoverer and wife)
Alternative designations	1986 TL · 1930 UT 1969 PD
Minor planet category	main-belt · (outer) Lixiaohua[3]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	86.46 yr (31,578 days)
Aphelion	3.8235 AU
Perihelion	2.4821 AU
Semi-major axis	3.1528 AU
Eccentricity	0.2127
Orbital period (sidereal)	5.60 yr (2,045 days)
Mean anomaly	222.85°
Mean motion	0° 10m 33.96s / day
Inclination	9.0509°
Longitude of ascending node	302.09°
Argument of perihelion	35.061°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	19.934±0.195 km[4]
Geometric albedo	0.030±0.014[5]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.2[1]

Orbit and classification

Jensen is a member of the Lixiaohua family,^[3] an outer-belt asteroid family with more than 700 known members, consisting of C-type and X-type asteroids. The family's namesake is 3556 Lixiaohua.^[7]: 23

It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.8 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,045 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.21 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

The asteroid was first identified as 1930 UT at Lowell Observatory in October 1930. The body's observation arc begins also at Lowell Observatory, with a precovery taken two days before its first identification, and 56 years prior to its official discovery observation at Brorfelde.^[6]

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Jensen measures 19.934 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.030.^[4][5]

Rotation period

As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Jensen has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid's rotation period, poles and shape remains unknown.^[8]

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of the discoverer and his wife, Paul and Bodil Jensen. The name was proposed by his colleagues Karl Augustesen and Hans Jørn Fogh Olsen. Jensen worked for 35 years in the Meridian Circle Department at the Brorfelde Observatory, and also participated in the observatories minor-planet program using its Schmidt telescope.^[2]

The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 July, 1994 (M.P.C. 23793).^[9]