(6742) Biandepei Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 8 April 1994 by Endate, K., Watanabe, K. at Kitami.

Named in honor of Bian Depei (b. 1926), popularizer of science and astronomy in the People's Republic of China. He has published more than 60 books, many winning national prizes, and nearly 800 articles. He played an important role in establishing the Beijing Planetarium in 1954 and launching Amateur Astronomer magazine in 1958, both the first of their kind in China. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by A. Fujii and T. Sato.Naming citation (19980411/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Biandepei is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Biandepei is 1.94 au from the Sun and 2.53 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	6742
Provisional designation	1994 GR
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	5.44 km (#9,815 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.300
Rotation period	8.04 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.53
Orbital period	3.57 years
Semi-major axis	2.33 au
Perihelion – aphelion	1.94 – 2.73 au
Eccentricity	0.171
Inclination	5.47°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.923 au

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

Also discovered on 8 April 1994

More named asteroids discovered by Endate, K., Watanabe, K.

All 535

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