5040 Rabinowitz, provisional designation 1972 RF, is a stony Phocaea asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory on 15 September 1972. ^[8] Contrary to most of his discoveries, this asteroid is unrelated to the Palomar–Leiden survey and exclusively credited to Tom Gehrels.

The stony S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family ( 701), a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics, named after its largest member, 25 Phocaea. ^[4] It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–3.0  AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,373 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.23 and an inclination of 24 ° with respect to the ecliptic. ^[1] A first precovery was taken at the discovering observatory in 1971, extending the body's observation arc by one year prior to its official discovery observation. ^[8]

In July 2013, a rotational lightcurve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations by Czech astronomer Petr Pravec at the Ondřejov Observatory. The well-defined lightcurve gave a rotation period of 4.6901±0.0004 hours with a brightness variation of 0.33 in magnitude ( U=3). ^[a]

During the same opposition opportunity, two more lightcurves – obtained by Robert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies and by Maurice Clark at the Preston Gott Observatory – gave a similar period of 4.691 and 4.472 hours, with an amplitude of 0.35 and 0.31 in magnitude, respectively ( U=3-/2+). ^{[5] [6]}

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23, derived from the Phocaea family's namesake, and calculates a diameter of 6.4 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 13.18. ^[3]

This minor planet was named after American astronomer David Rabinowitz (born 1960), a discoverer of minor planets himself and researcher at Yale University. The naming also honors his work for the Spacewatch program. ^[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 September 1993 ( M.P.C. 22505). ^[9]

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form ( info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (5001)-(10000) – Minor Planet Center
• 5040 Rabinowitz at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 5040 Rabinowitz at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters