(2246) Bowell Outer Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 14 December 1979 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Named in honor of Edward L. G. Bowell, Lowell Observatory astronomer who has made and who continues to make impressive contributions in many areas of minor-planet astronomy. Following his comprehensive UBV photoelectric photometry of minor planets, he has revived and augmented the Lowell photographic astrometric program and has discovered several new objects. He also does extensive orbital work on minor planets, including the establishment of identifications and the prediction of occultations. Name proposed by B. G. Marsden.Naming citation (MPC 5688), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Bowell is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Bowell is 3.79 au from the Sun and 3.91 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 2246 |
| Provisional designation | 1979 XH |
| Orbit class | Outer Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 48.4 km (#779 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0450 |
| Rotation period | 4.99 hours |
| Spectral type | D |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 10.41 |
| Orbital period | 7.89 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.96 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 3.60 – 4.32 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0907 |
| Inclination | 6.49° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 2.61 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Edward
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- (4854) Edscott
- (4966) Edolsen
- (5608) Olmos
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- (7551) Edstolper
- (7692) Edhenderson
- (9260) Edwardolson
- (10334) Gibbon
- (10492) Mizzi
- (11202) Teddunham
- (11349) Witten
All asteroids named after someone called Edward