{{Short description|Carbonaceous Dorian asteroid}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox planet | minorplanet = yes | name = 2598 Merlin | background = #D6D6D6 | image = | image_size = | caption = | discovery_ref = <ref name="jpldata" /> | discovered = 7 September 1980 | discoverer = E. Bowell | discovery_site = Anderson Mesa Stn. | mpc_name = (2598) Merlin | alt_names = 1980 RY{{·}}1948 WH<br />{{mp|1971 TD|3}} | pronounced = | named_after = {{nowrap|Merlin {{small|(Arthurian legend)}}<ref name="springer" />}} | mp_category = main-belt{{·}}Dora<ref name="Broz-2013" /> | orbit_ref = <ref name="jpldata" /> | epoch = 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | uncertainty = 0 | observation_arc = 68.44 yr (24,998 days) | aphelion = 3.3861 AU | perihelion = 2.1757 AU | semimajor = 2.7809 AU | eccentricity = 0.2176 | period = 4.64 yr (1,694 days) | mean_anomaly = 297.39° | mean_motion = {{Deg2DMS|0.2125|sup=ms}} / day | inclination = 7.7767° | asc_node = 197.77° | arg_peri = 217.28° | dimensions = {{val|15.694|0.047}} km<ref name="Masiero-2011" /> | rotation = | albedo = {{val|0.049|0.010}}<ref name="Masiero-2011" /> | spectral_type = SMASS = Ch<ref name="jpldata" /> | abs_magnitude = 13.2<ref name="jpldata" /> }}
'''2598 Merlin''', provisional designation {{mp|1980 RY}}, is a carbonaceous Dorian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 September 1980, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.<ref name="MPC-Merlin" /> The asteroid was named after the legendary wizard Merlin in Arthurian legend.<ref name="springer" />
== Classification and orbit ==
''Merlin'' is a member of the Dora family ({{small|512}}), a well-established central asteroid family of more than 1,200 carbonaceous asteroids. The family's namesake is 668 Dora. It is alternatively known as the "Zhongolovich family", named after its presumably largest member 1734 Zhongolovich. The Dora family may also contain a subfamily.<ref name="Broz-2013" /><ref name="Nesvorny-2014" />{{rp|13,23}}
''Merlin'' orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,694 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata" /> In Nombember 1948, the asteroid was first identified {{mp|1948 WH}} at Uccle Observatory, where the body's observation arc begins 32 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.<ref name="MPC-Merlin" />
== Physical characteristics ==
In the SMASS classification, ''Merlin'' a Ch-type asteroid, a hydrated subtype of the broader carbonaceous C-complex.<ref name="jpldata" />
According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, ''Merlin'' measures 15.694 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.049.<ref name="Masiero-2011" />
== Lightcurves ==
As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of ''Merlin'' has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period and shape remain unknown.<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="lcdb" />
== Naming ==
This minor planet was named after the sage and sorcerer Merlin, featured mentor of King Arthur in Arthurian legend and medieval Welsh poetry. His magic enabled Arthur to pull Excalibur from the rock and become the ''rightwise king born of all England''. The name was suggested by F. Pilcher.<ref name="springer" /> The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 August 1982 ({{small|M.P.C. 7157}}).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" />
== Notes ==
There is a book titled ''Merlin's Tour of the Universe'', in which a fictitious character, called Merlin, answers all curious questions a layman would have about astronomy and the Solar System. In the book, Merlin's favorite asteroid is Merlin 2598.
== References == {{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="jpldata">{{cite web |type = 2017-05-05 last obs. |title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 2598 Merlin (1980 RY) |url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002598 |publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory |access-date = 7 July 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="springer">{{cite book |last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. |title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg |page = 212 |date = 2007 |isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3 |doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_2599 |chapter = (2598) Merlin }}</ref>
<ref name="MPC-Merlin">{{cite web |title = 2598 Merlin (1980 RY) |work = Minor Planet Center |url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=2598 |access-date = 7 July 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive">{{cite web |title = MPC/MPO/MPS Archive |work = Minor Planet Center |url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/MPCArchive_TBL.html |access-date = 7 July 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="Masiero-2011">{{cite journal |display-authors = 6 |first1 = Joseph R. |last1 = Masiero |first2 = A. K. |last2 = Mainzer |first3 = T. |last3 = Grav |first4 = J. M. |last4 = Bauer |first5 = R. M. |last5 = Cutri |first6 = J. |last6 = Dailey |first7 = P. R. M. |last7 = Eisenhardt |first8 = R. S. |last8 = McMillan |first9 = T. B. |last9 = Spahr |first10 = M. F. |last10 = Skrutskie |first11 = D. |last11 = Tholen |first12 = R. G. |last12 = Walker |first13 = E. L. |last13 = Wright |first14 = E. |last14 = DeBaun |first15 = D. |last15 = Elsbury |first16 = T. IV |last16 = Gautier |first17 = S. |last17 = Gomillion |first18 = A. |last18 = Wilkins |date = November 2011 |title = Main Belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE. I. Preliminary Albedos and Diameters |url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2011ApJ...741...68M |journal = The Astrophysical Journal |volume = 741 |issue = 2 |page = 20 |bibcode = 2011ApJ...741...68M |doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/68 |arxiv = 1109.4096 |access-date= 7 July 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="Broz-2013">{{cite journal |first1 = M. |last1 = Broz |first2 = A. |last2 = Morbidelli |first3 = W. F. |last3 = Bottke |first4 = J. |last4 = Rozehnal |first5 = D. |last5 = Vokrouhlický |first6 = D. |last6 = Nesvorný |date = March 2013 |title = Constraining the cometary flux through the asteroid belt during the late heavy bombardment |journal = Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume = 551 |page = 16 |bibcode = 2013A&A...551A.117B |doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/201219296 |arxiv = 1301.6221}}</ref>
<ref name="Nesvorny-2014">{{cite book |first1 = D. |last1 = Nesvorný |first2 = M. |last2 = Broz |first3 = V. |last3 = Carruba |date = December 2014 |chapter = Identification and Dynamical Properties of Asteroid Families |title = Asteroids IV |pages = 297–321 |bibcode = 2015aste.book..297N |doi = 10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch016 |arxiv = 1502.01628 |isbn = 978-0-8165-3213-1}}</ref>
<ref name="lcdb">{{cite LCDB|number = 2598 |access-date = 7 July 2017}}</ref>
}} <!-- end of reflist -->
== External links == * [http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/lcdbsummaryquery.php Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)], query form ([http://www.minorplanet.info/lightcurvedatabase.html info] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216050541/http://www.minorplanet.info/lightcurvedatabase.html |date=16 December 2017 }}) * [https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg Dictionary of Minor Planet Names], Google books * [http://obswww.unige.ch/~behrend/page_cou.html Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR] – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend * [https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/NumberedMPs000001.html Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000)] – Minor Planet Center * {{AstDys|2598}} * {{JPL small body}}
{{Minor planets navigator |2597 Arthur |number=2598 |2599 Veselí}} {{Small Solar System bodies}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlin}} 002598 Category:Discoveries by Edward L. G. Bowell Category:Named minor planets 002598 19800907