(8769) Arctictern Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Named for the bird Sterna paradisaea; Arctic tern is its English name. It belongs to the family of the Sternidae.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 2, #9, 5), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Arctictern is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Arctictern is 2.72 au from the Sun and 1.74 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8769 |
| Provisional designation | 2181 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.80 km (#7,882 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.152 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.48 |
| Orbital period | 4.40 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.68 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.55 – 2.81 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0485 |
| Inclination | 3.09° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.54 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 29 September 1973
- (2049) Grietje
- (4357) Korinthos
- (4549) Burkhardt
- (4721) Atahualpa
- (4752) Myron
- (4876) Strabo
- (4978) Seitz
- (5151) Weerstra
- (5197) Rottmann
- (5243) Clasien
- (5244) Amphilochos
- (5266) Rauch
More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1778) Alfven
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1813) Imhotep
← (8768) Barnowl · (8770) Totanus →