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.
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]
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]
