(4301) Boyden Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 7 August 1966 by Boyden Observatory at Bloemfontein.
Massachusetts mechanical engineer Uriah Atherton Boyden (1804-1879) designed an improved turbine waterwheel for use in textile mills. His bequest to build a new observatory at a mountain site allowed the Harvard College Observatory to establish the Boyden Observatory at Arequipa. It moved to Bloemfontein in 1927.Naming citation (20060809/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Boyden is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Boyden is 3.44 au from the Sun and 3.13 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4301 |
| Provisional designation | 1966 PM |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 13.9 km (#3,418 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.120 |
| Rotation period | 5.64 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.71 |
| Orbital period | 5.48 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.11 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.75 – 3.47 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.116 |
| Inclination | 2.28° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.76 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.