(7553) Buie Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 March 1981 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Named in honor of Marc W. Buie (b. 1958), an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, who has made many important contributions to planetary astronomy. These include the identification of water ice on Pluto's satellite Charon, constraints on the albedo and frost distribution on Pluto and Charon and improvements in our knowledge of Charon's orbit. Buie is also a codiscoverer of several transneptunian objects and has developed a wide variety of astronomical software used at Lowell Observatory and elsewhere. Citation provided by J. R. Spencer at the request of the discoverer.Naming citation (19990728/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Buie is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Buie is 2.64 au from the Sun and 2.48 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7553 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 FG |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.44 km (#14,121 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.259 |
| Rotation period | 4.25 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.52 |
| Orbital period | 3.70 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.04 – 2.74 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.145 |
| Inclination | 3.28° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.05 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Marc
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- (7740) Petit
- (10050) Rayman
- (10994) Fouchard
- (13059) Ducuroir
- (13249) Marcallen
- (13352) Gyssens
- (14094) Garneau
- (16121) Burrell
- (20036) Marcboucher
- (22633) Fazio
- (28621) Marcfries
All asteroids named after someone called Marc