4897 Tomhamilton


4897 Tomhamilton, provisional designation, is a stony asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 14 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 August 1987, by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at Palomar Observatory, California. It was later named after American Thomas Hamilton, author of astronomy books and participant in the Apollo program.

Classification and orbit

Tomhamilton orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.4 AU once every 5 years and 4 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.
In August 1950, a first precovery was taken at Palomar, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 37 years prior to its official discovery observation. It had also been previously identified as and at Crimea–Nauchnij.
On 11 January 2011, it was at opposition at a distance of 2.476 AU. Given the moderately elliptical orbit, this asteroid can on rare occasions reach an apparent magnitude from Earth of about 10.9.

Physical characteristics

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Tomhamilton measures 13.7 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.215, which indicates that it of a stony rather than of a carbonaceous composition.

Lightcurve

As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Tomhamilton has been obtained from photometric observations. It rotation period, poles and shape remain unknown.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Thomas William Hamilton, an American who was a child actor. As an adult he worked on the Apollo program, determining fuel requirements and radar accuracy requirements for lunar orbit rendezvous. He later worked as an astronomy educator and planetarium director, and is the author of time travel and science fiction novels, and also wrote five books on astronomical topics. Hamilton and Helin were acquainted, as he had interviewed her at an astronomical conference for a cable television show he was producing at the time. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 October 2009.

Books by Hamilton

Hamilton has also had many astronomical articles in The Constellation, and science fiction in Aphelion, Bewildering Stories, and Changingthetimes.com.