9902 Kirkpatrick

9902 Kirkpatrick, provisional designation 1997 NY, is a Florian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 3 July 1997, by American amateur astronomer Paul Comba at Prescott Observatory in Arizona, United States, and named after American musician Ralph Kirkpatrick.^[3]

9902 Kirkpatrick

Orbit of Kirkpatrick (blue), with the inner planets and Jupiter (outermost)
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	P. G. Comba
Discovery site	Prescott Obs.
Discovery date	3 July 1997
Designations
MPC designation	(9902) Kirkpatrick
Named after	Ralph Kirkpatrick (musician, musicologist)[2]
Alternative designations	1997 NY · 1988 XS4 1994 RK29 · 1996 EJ16
Minor planet category	main-belt[1][3] · (inner) Flora
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	28.48 yr (10,401 days)
Aphelion	2.3935 AU
Perihelion	2.0276 AU
Semi-major axis	2.2105 AU
Eccentricity	0.0828
Orbital period (sidereal)	3.29 yr (1,200 days)
Mean anomaly	254.92°
Mean motion	0° 17m 59.64s / day
Inclination	5.3167°
Longitude of ascending node	274.37°
Argument of perihelion	176.19°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	3.611±0.166 km[4] 17.8 km[5]
Geometric albedo	0.179±0.022[4]
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.4[1]

Orbit and classification

Kirkpatrick is a member of the Flora family. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,200 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1] It was first identified as 1988 XS₄ at El Leoncito in 1988, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 9 years prior to its official discovery at Prescott.^[3]

Physical characteristics

Rotation period

As of 2017, the asteroid's rotation period and shape remain unknown.^[6]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Kirkpatrick measures 17.8 and 3.611 kilometers in diameter, respectively.^[4][5] WISE/NEOWISE also gives an albedo of 0.179 for the body's surface.^[4] It has an absolute magnitude of 14.4.^[1]

Naming

This minor planet was named after Ralph Kirkpatrick (1911–1984), an American musician, musicologist and harpsichordist. He has written a biography of Domenico Scarlatti and published a chronological catalog of his keyboard sonatas (also see 6480 Scarlatti). Kirkpatrick studied 17th and 18th century performance practices in chamber music and gave concerts playing the works by Scarlatti and Bach (also see 1814 Bach).^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 April 1999 (M.P.C. 34356).^[7]