(13956) Banks Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 15 November 1990 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
British botanist Joseph Banks (1743-1820) joined James Cook on the Endeavour. He proposed an experiment to move en masse a food crop (namely, breadfruit) from one location to another. The first mission, under the command of Captain Bligh, was doomed to fail, but the second in 1791 was successful.Naming citation (20050919/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Banks is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Banks is 2.63 au from the Sun and 1.73 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 13956 |
| Provisional designation | 1990 VG6 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Rotation period | 6.22 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.41 |
| Orbital period | 4.01 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.53 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.23 – 2.82 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.118 |
| Inclination | 8.10° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.24 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Joseph
- (2157) Ashbrook
- (4225) Hobart
- (5034) Joeharrington
- (5577) Priestley
- (5883) Josephblack
- (6540) Stepling
- (6743) Liu
- (7656) Joemontani
- (8023) Josephwalker
- (8255) Masiero
- (8661) Ratzinger
- (8794) Joepatterson
All asteroids named after someone called Joseph
Also discovered on 15 November 1990
- (5827) Letunov
- (5966) Tomeko
- (7469) Krikalev
- (7651) Villeneuve
- (8849) Brighton
- (8850) Bignonia
- (9176) Struchkova
- (9951) Tyrannosaurus
- (10092) Sasaki
- (10770) Belo Horizonte
- (10771) Ouro Preto
- (11051) Racine
More named asteroids discovered by E. W. Elst
- (3631) Sigyn
- (3784) Chopin
- (3870) Mayre
- (3903) Kliment Ohridski
- (3910) Liszt
- (3912) Troja
- (3918) Brel
- (4038) Kristina
- (4226) Damiaan
- (4342) Freud
- (4344) Buxtehude
- (4345) Rachmaninoff
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