2478 Tokai, provisionally designated 1981 JC, is a stony Florian asteroid and binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 4 May 1981, by Japanese astronomer Toshimasa Furuta at Tōkai Observatory (879), Japan.[14] The asteroid was named after the city of Tōkai.[2]
Orbit and classification
Tokai is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the main-belt. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,213 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Tokai measures between 9.238 and 9.982 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.144 and 0.33.[6][7][8][9] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with Petr Pravec's revised WISE-data, that is, an albedo of 0.1957 and a diameter of 10.09 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.37.[3]
Satellite
Photometric observations in 2007, revealed a minor-planet moon in orbit of Tokai. It measures approximately 6 kilometers in diameter (lower limit diameter ratio of 0.72) and has an orbital period of 25.88 hours.[3][4][5]
Naming
This minor planet was named after the city of Tōkai, Japan, where the discoverer lives and the discovering observatory is located.[2] The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 8 February 1982 (M.P.C. 6650).[15]
^ abcdUsui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)