(12608) Aesop Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Herodotus Aisopos of Sardes (Aesop) was a slave who lived around 550 B.C. on the island of Samos. The people loved his fine fables so much that he became a free man. Aesop's fables are full of wisdom and have been translated into many languages.Naming citation (20080819/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
👶 Aesop as a baby name🐶 Aesop as a dog name
Where Aesop is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Aesop is 2.50 au from the Sun and 3.28 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12608 |
| Provisional designation | 2091 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.43 |
| Orbital period | 3.53 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.32 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.05 – 2.59 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.117 |
| Inclination | 3.52° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.05 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 24 September 1960
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1846) Bengt
- (1868) Thersites