145523 Lulin
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Through Asteroid
Orbit and classification
Lulin is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 7 months (1,664 days; semi-major axis of 2.75 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. The earliest precovery was taken at ESO's La Silla Observatory in March 1992, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 14 years prior to its discovery observation.
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Naming
This minor planet was named after the Lulin mountain in central Taiwan, location of the discovering Lulin Observatory at an altitude of 2862 meters. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 2 April 2007 (M.P.C. 59389). At the observatory, Comet Lulin was discovered in 2007.
Physical characteristics
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures 3.9 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo of 0.073, which is rather typical for a carbonaceous C-type body. As of 2018, no rotational lightcurve of Lulin has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period, pole and shape remain unknown.