2934 Aristophanes
2934 Aristophanes, provisional designation, is a carbonaceous Veritasian asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey in 1960, and later named after ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes.
Discovery
Aristophanes was discovered on 25 September 1960, by Dutch astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, on photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory, California, United States.Palomar–Leiden survey
The survey designation stands for "Palomar–Leiden", named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope, and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand asteroids.Orbit and classification
Aristophanes is a member of the Veritas family, a young family of carbonaceous asteroids, that formed approximately million years ago. The family is named after 490 Veritas and consists of nearly 1,300 members.It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 3.0–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 8 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.05 and an inclination of 9° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Palomar, the night prior to its official discovery observation.