(7742) Altamira Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 20 October 1985 by A. Mrkos at Klet.
Altamira is a cave in northern Spain, whose walls bear paintings and engravings---chiefly of bison, deer, horses and boar---dating from the Stone Age. It is one of the most important prehistoric painted caves. The paintings were discovered in 1879. The name was suggested by M. Tichy.Naming citation (20020624/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Altamira is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Altamira is 2.52 au from the Sun and 2.20 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7742 |
| Provisional designation | 1985 US |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.48 km (#8,276 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.184 |
| Rotation period | 2.70 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.78 |
| Orbital period | 4.49 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.72 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.51 – 2.93 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0787 |
| Inclination | 4.15° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.52 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 20 October 1985
- (3395) Jitka
- (3949) Mach
- (4339) Almamater
- (7232) Nabokov
- (9551) Kazi
- (9934) Caccioppoli
- (14348) Cumming
- (17402) Valeryshuvalov