{{Short description|Stony asteroid and near-Earth object}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox planet | minorplanet = yes | name = 7336 Saunders | background = #FFC2E0 | image = | image_size = | caption = | discovery_ref = <ref name="jpldata" /> | discovered = 6 September 1989 | discoverer = E. F. Helin | discovery_site = Palomar Obs. | mpc_name = (7336) Saunders | alt_names = {{mp|1989 RS|1}} | pronounced = | named_after = R. Stephen Saunders<br />{{small|(JPL scientist)}}<ref name="springer" /> | mp_category = NEO{{·}}Amor<ref name="jpldata" /><ref name="MPC-Saunders" /> | orbit_ref = <ref name="jpldata" /> | epoch = 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | uncertainty = 0 | observation_arc = 34.63 yr (12,647 days) | aphelion = 3.4148 AU | perihelion = 1.1956 AU | semimajor = 2.3052 AU | eccentricity = 0.4813 | period = 3.50 yr (1,278 days) | mean_anomaly = 353.72° | mean_motion = {{Deg2DMS|0.2816|sup=ms}} / day | inclination = 7.1958° | asc_node = 174.49° | arg_peri = 181.51° | moid = 0.1908 AU{{·}}74.3 LD | dimensions = 0.467 km {{small|(derived)}}<ref name="lcdb" /> | rotation = {{val|6}} h<ref name="Hoffmann-1993a" /><br />{{val|6.423|0.004}} h{{efn|name=Pravec-2003}} | albedo = 0.20 {{small|(assumed)}}<ref name="lcdb" /> | spectral_type = SMASS = Sq<ref name="jpldata" />{{·}}S<ref name="lcdb" /> | abs_magnitude = 18.0<ref name="Hoffmann-1993a" />{{·}}{{val|18.45|0.2}} {{small|(R)}}{{efn|name=Pravec-2003}}{{·}}18.8<ref name="jpldata" />{{·}}{{val|19.02|0.112}}<ref name="lcdb" /><ref name="Pravec-2012b" /> }}
'''7336 Saunders''', provisional designation {{mp|1989 RS|1}}, is a stony asteroid and near-Earth object of the Amor group, approximately 0.5 kilometers in diameter.
The asteroid was discovered on 6 September 1989, by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at Palomar Observatory in California, United States.<ref name="MPC-Saunders" /> It was named for JPL-project scientist R. Stephen Saunders.<ref name="springer" />
== Orbit and classification ==
''Saunders'' orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.2–3.4 AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,278 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.48 and an inclination of 7° with respect to the ecliptic.<ref name="jpldata" />
A first precovery was taken at the Australian Siding Spring Observatory in 1982, extending the body's observation arc by 7 years prior to its official discovery at Palomar.<ref name="MPC-Saunders" /> It has a minimum orbital intersection distance with Earth of {{convert |0.1908 |AU |km |abbr=on |lk=off |sigfig=3}}, which corresponds to 74.3 lunar distances.<ref name="lcdb" />
== Physical characteristics ==
In the SMASS classification, ''Saunders'' is a Sq-type, which transitions from the common S-type to the Q-type asteroids.<ref name="jpldata" /> The ''Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link'' assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 467 meters, based on an absolute magnitude of 19.02.<ref name="lcdb" />
=== Lightcurve ===
In October 1989, the first photometric observations of ''Saunders'' were made with the ESO 1-metre telescope at La Silla in Chile.<ref name="Hoffmann-1993a" /> It gave a rotation period of 6 hours with a brightness variation of 0.3 magnitude ({{small|U=2}}). Another rotational lightcurve was obtained by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory in August 2003, giving a period of {{val|6.423|0.004}} and an amplitude of 0.2 magnitude ({{small|U=n.a.}}).{{efn|name=Pravec-2003}}
== Naming ==
This minor planet was named in honor of JPL-project scientist R. Stephen Saunders (born 1940), director of the RPIF and head scientist of the ''Solar System Exploration Office''. He worked on the Mars Surveyor 2001/03 program and on the Magellan spacecraft, that visited and mapped Venus in 1990.<ref name="springer" /> The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 July 2000 ({{small|M.P.C. 41028}}).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" />
== Notes == {{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=Pravec-2003|1=Pravec (2003): rotation period {{val|6.423|0.004}} hours with a brightness amplitude of {{val|0.2}} mag. Summary figures for (7336) Saunders at [http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/generateOneAsteroidInfo.php?AstInfo=7336%7CSaunders Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link (CALL)] and [http://www.asu.cas.cz/~ppravec/neo.htm Pravec, P.; Wolf, M.; Sarounova, L. (2003)]}}
}} <!-- end of notelist -->
== References == {{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="jpldata">{{cite web |type = 2017-06-05 last obs. |title = JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 7336 Saunders (1989 RS1) |url = https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007336 |publisher = Jet Propulsion Laboratory |access-date = 22 June 2017}}</ref>
<ref name="springer">{{cite book |title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (7336) Saunders |last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. |publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg |page = 591 |date = 2007 |isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3 |doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_6435 |chapter = (7336) Saunders }}</ref>
<ref name="MPC-Saunders">{{cite web |title = 7336 Saunders (1989 RS1) |work = Minor Planet Center |url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=7336 |access-date = 26 September 2016}}</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 = 26 September 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="lcdb">{{cite LCDB|number = 7336 |access-date = 26 September 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="Hoffmann-1993a">{{Cite journal |first1 = Martin |last1 = Hoffmann |first2 = Helge |last2 = Rebhan |first3 = Gerhard |last3 = Neukum |first4 = Edward H. |last4 = Geyer |date = January 1993 |title = Photometric observations of four near-earth asteroids |url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=1993AcA....43...61H |journal = Acta Astronomica |volume = 43 |pages = 61–67 |issn = 0001-5237 |bibcode = 1993AcA....43...61H |access-date= 26 September 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="Pravec-2012b">{{Cite journal |first1 = Petr |last1 = Pravec |first2 = Alan W. |last2 = Harris |first3 = Peter |last3 = Kusnirák |first4 = Adrián |last4 = Galád |first5 = Kamil |last5 = Hornoch |date = September 2012 |title = Absolute magnitudes of asteroids and a revision of asteroid albedo estimates from WISE thermal observations |url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2012Icar..221..365P |journal = Icarus |volume = 221 |issue = 1 |pages = 365–387 |bibcode = 2012Icar..221..365P |doi = 10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.026 |access-date= 26 September 2016}}</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 * {{NeoDys|7336}} * {{ESA-SSA|7336|Saunders}} * {{JPL small body|id=2007336}} {{Minor planets navigator|(7335) 1989 JA |number=7336 |(7337) 1990 QH1}} {{Small Solar System bodies}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders}} 007336 Category:Discoveries by Eleanor F. Helin Category:Named minor planets 007336 19890906