(9949) Brontosaurus Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 22 September 1990 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Brontosaurus was a gigantic dinosaur, as large as 20 meters and weighing about 30 tons. It lived in Upper Jurassic times and walked on all four legs. Many skeletons have been found in the United States.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #15, 6), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Brontosaurus is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Brontosaurus is 2.48 au from the Sun and 1.61 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9949 |
| Provisional designation | 1990 SK6 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.37 km (#11,903 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.233 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.97 |
| Orbital period | 3.61 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.35 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.21 – 2.50 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0607 |
| Inclination | 7.70° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.21 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 22 September 1990
- (5186) Donalu
- (6012) Williammurdoch
- (6268) Versailles
- (6605) Carmontelle
- (7412) Linnaeus
- (7578) Georgbohm
- (7649) Bougainville
- (7871) Tunder
- (10088) Digne
- (10089) Turgot
- (10316) Williamturner
- (10523) D'Haveloose
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
← (9947) Takaishuji · (9950) ESA →