(17891) Buraliforti Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 March 1999 by P. G. Comba at Prescott.
Cesare Burali-Forti (1861-1931) taught at the Military Academy in Turin. He discovered a paradox in Cantor's set theory: since the ordinal number of a set of ordinals is greater than the ordinal of each set element, “the ordinal of the set of all ordinals” is a self-contradictory concept.Naming citation (20010109/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Buraliforti is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Buraliforti is 3.19 au from the Sun and 3.31 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 17891 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 EA |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.90 km (#13,002 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.140 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.93 |
| Orbital period | 4.08 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.55 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.90 – 3.20 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.254 |
| Inclination | 11.9° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.927 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Cesare
All asteroids named after someone called Cesare