19367 Pink Floyd (provisional designation1997 XW3) is a dark background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 December 1997, by European astronomers of the ODAS survey at the CERGA Observatory near Caussols, France.[5] The asteroid was named after the English rock band Pink Floyd.[2]
The asteroid was first identified as 1985 UZ2 at the discovering Caussols Observatory in October 1985. Its observation arc begins 43 years prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken by the Digitized Sky Survey at Palomar Observatory in July 1954.[5]
Physical characteristics
Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Pink Floyd measures 6.652 kilometers in diameter and its surface has a low albedo of 0.048.[4] An albedo near 0.05 is typical for carbonaceous C-type asteroids, which are the dominant type in the outer region of the main belt, but rather unusual in the inner parts. Pink Floyd has an absolute magnitude of 14.6.[1]
Rotation period
As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Pink Floyd has been obtained from photometric observations. The asteroid's rotation period, spin axis and shape remain unknown.[1][6]