(12696) Camus Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 26 September 1989 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
French novelist and essayist Albert Camus (1913–1960), well known for his novels L'Etranger and La Peste, won the 1957 Nobel prize for literature. He defended truth, moderation and justice, adhering to liberal humanism and rejecting the dogmatic aspects of both Christianity and Marxism.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 4, #10, 6), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Camus is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Camus is 2.31 au from the Sun and 3.07 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12696 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 SF1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.33 km (#5,530 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0690 |
| Rotation period | 3.78 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.72 |
| Orbital period | 4.24 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.62 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.24 – 3.00 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.145 |
| Inclination | 7.99° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.23 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Albert
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- (7548) Engstrom
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- (8022) Scottcrossfield
- (9699) Baumhauer
- (10218) Bierstadt
- (10950) Albertjansen
- (10974) Carolalbert
- (13298) Namatjira
- (15619) Albertwu
- (16142) Leung
- (16418) Lortzing
All asteroids named after someone called Albert
Also discovered on 26 September 1989
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- (5351) Diderot
- (5873) Archilochos
- (6240) Lucretius Carus
- (6777) Balakirev
- (6826) Lavoisier
- (7056) Kierkegaard
- (7647) Etrepigny
- (7934) Sinatra
- (8488) d'Argens
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- (8834) Anacardium