(4794) Bogard Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 16 September 1988 by S. J. Bus at Cerro Tololo.

Donald Bogard (b. 1940) of NASA's Johnson Space Center has been at the forefront of understanding the chronology of formation and impact alterations of solar system bodies using argon isotope measurements. He played a key role in recognizing the martian origin of some meteorites using analyses of trapped gases.Naming citation (20001013/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Bogard is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Bogard is 2.44 au from the Sun and 1.48 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	4794
Provisional designation	1988 SO2
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	4.36 km (#11,914 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.369
Rotation period	2.73 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.9
Orbital period	3.42 years
Semi-major axis	2.27 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.01 – 2.53 au
Eccentricity	0.115
Inclination	5.40°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.02 au

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

Also named after someone called Donald

All asteroids named after someone called Donald

Also discovered on 16 September 1988

More named asteroids discovered by S. J. Bus

All 464

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