21062 Iasky

21062 Iasky is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 13 May 1991, by American astronomers Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. It was named for Australian geophysicist Robert Iasky.

Orbit and classification

Iasky is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the outer asteroid belt at a distance of 2.9–3.1 AU once every 5 years and 4 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.03 and an inclination of 24° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins in November 1982, with its first observations taken by the Siding Spring Observatory and published with the Digitized Sky Survey later on.

Naming

This minor planet was named after Australian geophysicist Robert Iasky, who discovered the 120-kilometer-sized Woodleigh crater in the Carnarvon Basin of Western Australia while working with the Geological Survey of Western Australia. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 May 2003.

Physical characteristics

According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Iasky measures 19.034 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.063, which is typical for a carbonaceous C-type asteroid. As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of Iasky has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.