(3872) Akirafujii Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 12 January 1983 by B. A. Skiff at Anderson Mesa.

Named for Japan's highly talented and renowned astrophotographer, Akira Fujii of Koriyama. He edited the quarterly magazine Hoshi No Techou (Star Handbook) and is the author of a beautifully illustrated series of popular astronomy books for young people. Fujii has fostered public awareness of astronomy through television broadcasts from his Chiro Observatory in Shirakawa (Fukushima prefecture), and he toured Japan in 1986, offering the public views of Halley's Comet with a trailer-mounted 60-cm reflector. Fujii is best known outside of Japan for his stunning celestial photographs, a hallmark of which is technical perfection. Name proposed by D. di Cicco and R. W. Sinnott and endorsed by the discoverer.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #14, 4), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Akirafujii is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Akirafujii is 2.11 au from the Sun and 2.94 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	3872
Provisional designation	1983 AV
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	12.5 km (#3,892 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0850
Rotation period	10.6 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.04
Orbital period	4.34 years
Semi-major axis	2.66 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.11 – 3.21 au
Eccentricity	0.206
Inclination	13.0°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.16 au

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

Also discovered on 12 January 1983

More named asteroids discovered by B. A. Skiff

All 48

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