3868 Mendoza

3868 Mendoza, provisional designation is a stony Vestian asteroid and binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 September 1960, by astronomers Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory.

Orbit and characterization

Mendoza orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic.

Satellite

In 2009, a minor-planet moon was discovered. The satellite measures in diameter and orbits Mendoza in a little more than a day.

Palomar–Leiden

The survey designation "P-L" 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 asteroid discoveries.

Diameter and albedo

According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Mendoza measures between 8.628 and 9.351 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.1621 and 0.436. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts Petr Pravec's revised WISE data, that is, an albedo of 0.1649 and a rounded diameter of 9.40 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.71.

Naming

This minor planet was named in honor of Mexican astronomer Eugenio Mendoza, expert in photometry and spectroscopy, member of the IAU and teacher at several Mexican universities. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 September 1993.