(1778) Alfven Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 26 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Where Alfven is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Alfven is 2.92 au from the Sun and 2.81 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 1778 |
| Provisional designation | 4506 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 20.6 km (#2,125 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0950 |
| Rotation period | 4.82 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.89 |
| Orbital period | 5.57 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.14 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.72 – 3.56 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.135 |
| Inclination | 2.47° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.70 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 26 September 1960
- (4386) Lust
- (4412) Chephren
- (6145) Riemenschneider
- (7720) Lepaute
- (8435) Anser
- (9251) Harch
- (9479) Madresplazamayo
- (9694) Lycomedes
- (9906) Tintoretto
- (10244) Thuringer Wald
- (10646) Machielalberts
- (12616) Lochner
More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1813) Imhotep
- (1846) Bengt
← (1777) Gehrels · (1779) Parana →