7784 Watterson
7784 Watterson, provisional designation, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Timothy Spahr at the U.S. Catalina Station, Arizona, on 5 August 1994. The asteroid was named after cartoonist Bill Watterson.
Orbit and classification
The S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.7–2.8 AU once every 3 years and 5 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic.Physical characteristics
In 2011, a photometric lightcurve analysis by astronomer Brian Skiff gave a rotation period of hours with a relatively low brightness amplitude of 0.10 magnitude, indicative of a nearly spheroidal shape.According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Watterson has an albedo of 0.19 and a diameter of 5.6 kilometers. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with WISE's observations and assumes a slightly higher albedo of 0.23 and calculates a diameter of 5.5 kilometers.