It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.8–5.7 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,350 days; semi-major axis of 5.22 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.09 and an inclination of 21° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The asteroid was first observed as 1951 WT1 at the McDonald Observatory in November 1951. The body's observation arc begins with its observation as 1961 TB at Goethe Link Observatory in October 1961, or 24 years prior to its official discovery observation at Palomar.[1]
Analysis of Mottola's best-rated lightcurve from June 1994 gave a rotation period of 5.6225±0.0005 hours with a brightness variation of 0.24±0.01magnitude (U=2+).[3][11]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Leonteus measures between 86.26 and 112.05 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.042 and 0.072.[6][7][8]
CALL derives an albedo of 0.0784 and a diameter of 86.38 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.7.[3]
100+ largest Jupiter trojans
Largest Jupiter Trojans by survey(A) (mean-diameter in kilometers; YoD: Year of Discovery)
Note: missing data was completed with figures from the JPL SBDB (query) and from the LCDB (query form) for the WISE/NEOWISE and SIMPS catalogs, respectively. These figures are given in italics. Also, listing is incomplete above #100.
Naming
This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after Leonteus, a hero of the Trojan War, who attempted to win a competition among the Greek warriors to see who could throw an iron meteorite the farthest. However, he lost the game to his associate, Polypoites, after whom the minor planet 3709 Polypoites is named.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 August 1988 (M.P.C. 13482).[16]
Notes
^ abAmerican astronomer Eugene Shoemaker, husband of Carolyn S. Shoemaker, is not credited with the discovery of this Trojan asteroid by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). He is, however, credited as a discoverer in the DISCOVERY.DB used on JPL's Small-Body Database Browser, which was last updated on 29 August 2003.
^ abcdLightcurve plots of (3793) Leonteus from May 2015, May 2016 and Jul 2017 by Robert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies (U81). Quality code is 2-/3-/3 (lightcurve rating at CS3). Summary figures at the LCDB and CS3.
^ abcdTedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System – IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 15 June 2018.