2012 Guo Shou-Jing
2012 Guo Shou-Jing, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous asteroid and Florian interloper from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 13 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 9 October 1964, by astronomers at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanking, China. The asteroid was named after Chinese astronomer Guo Shoujing. Orbit and classification Guo Shou-Jing orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,298 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins 11 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in August 1953. Florian interloper Guo Shou-Jing is a dark, carbonaceous asteroid but possesses the orbital characteristics of a member of the Flora family, which is one of the largest groups of bright, stony S-type asteroids in the main-belt. It is therefore thought to be an unrelated interloper that does not origin from the Flora family's parent body. Physical characteristics Guo Shou-Jing has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS photometric survey. Fragmentary lightcurve In August 2010, a fragmentary rotational lightcurve of Guo Shou-Jing was obtained