6708 Bobbievaile

6708 Bobbievaile, provisional designation , is a stony background asteroid and asynchronous binary system from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 4 January 1989, by Australian astronomer Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. It is named after Bobbie Vaile.

Orbit and classification

Bobbievaile is a stony, non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 10 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 12° with respect to the ecliptic.
It was first observed as at El Leoncito in 1979, extending the body's observation arc by 10 years prior to its official discovery observation at Siding Spring.

Binary asteroid

On 7 May 2009, it was announced that Bobbievaile was determined to be a binary asteroid based on a series of lightcurve observations. Bobbievaile is estimated to have a diameter of, and its minor-planet moon to have a diameter of approximately 4.57 km. The primary is probably spherical.

Naming

This minor planet was named in memory of Australian astrophysicist Roberta Anne "Bobbie" Vaile, lecturer at Western Sydney University. She was a SETI enthusiast and participated in both the establishment of the SETI Australia Centre and the conduction of Project Phoenix. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 22 April 1997.