11277 Ballard
11277 Ballard, provisional designation "", is a Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 8 October 1988, by American astronomer couple Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at the Palomar Observatory in California. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of at least 10 hours. It was named for American marine scientist Robert Ballard. Orbit and classification. "Ballard" is a member of the Phocaea family (). It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.83–2.98 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,360 days ; semi-major axis of 2.4 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 23° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar in September 1988, just four weeks prior to its official discovery observation. "Ballard" is not a Mars-crosser, since its aphelion is larger than 1.67 AU. Naming. This minor planet was named after American marine scientist Robert Ballard (born 1942), a professor of oceanography and director of the "Deep Submergence Laboratory", who is known for the discovery of the RMS "Titanic" and the German  battleship Bismarck. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 26 May 2002 (). Physical characteristics. "Ballard" is an assumed, stony S-type asteroid, in line with the Phocaea family's overall spectral type. Rotation period. In July 2010, a rotational lightcurve of "Ballard" was obtained from two nights of photometric observations in the R-band by Italian astronomer Albino Carbognani at the OAVdA Observatory in Italy. Lightcurve analysis gave a tentative rotation period of at least 10 hours with a brightness amplitude of more than 0.25 magnitude (). Diameter and albedo. According to the survey carried out  by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, "Ballard" measures between 5.65 and 6.445 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.19 and 0.289. The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" assumes an albedo of 0.23 – derived from the family's largest member, 25 Phocaea – and calculates a diameter of 6.65 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 13.1.