(6522) Aci Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 9 July 1991 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.

Named for a river southeast of Mount Etna, and also honoring the many towns and villages along it that contain the name: Acicastello, Acitrezza, Acireale, Acibonaccorsi, Acicatena, Aci Sant'Antonio and Aci Santo Filippo. The modern-day river evokes the myth of Aci (or Acis), the young Sicilian shepherd who was in love with Galatea, a Nereid. The jealous cyclops Polyphemus hurled a large rock and killed Aci, whose blood was transformed into an underground river that plunged into the Ionian Sea to hug his beloved Galatea. Name proposed by the discoverer, following a suggestion by Carlo Blanco.Naming citation (19961026/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Aci is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Aci is 2.69 au from the Sun and 2.87 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	6522
Provisional designation	1991 NQ
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	6.12 km (#8,749 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.392
Rotation period	7.69 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.1
Orbital period	3.68 years
Semi-major axis	2.39 au
Perihelion – aphelion	1.91 – 2.86 au
Eccentricity	0.199
Inclination	22.1°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.943 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also discovered on 9 July 1991

More named asteroids discovered by E. F. Helin

All 267

← (6521) Pina · (6523) Clube →