(1852) Carpenter Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 April 1955 by Indiana University at Brooklyn.
Named in memory of Edwin F. Carpenter (1898-1963), second director of the Steward Observatory and a director-at-large on the AURA board. His primary research interests were spectroscopic binaries, photometry and interacting galaxies. Despite extremely limited financial resources he succeeded in keeping Steward Observatory an active research center during the nearly three decades of his directorship, and he played a major role in persuading the Papago Tribal Council to lease the top of Kitt Peak to the AURA Board, thereby enabling the construction of the National Observatory on Kitt Peak. Name proposed by F. K. Edmondson and E. Roemer. Citation written by W. S. Fitch.Naming citation (MPC 5282), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Carpenter is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Carpenter is 2.83 au from the Sun and 2.39 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 1852 |
| Provisional designation | 1955 GA |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 21.4 km (#2,038 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.128 |
| Rotation period | 29.9 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.56 |
| Orbital period | 5.23 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.01 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.82 – 3.20 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0634 |
| Inclination | 11.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.84 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Edwin
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- (7868) Barker
- (9164) Colbert
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- (20894) Krumeich
- (26485) Edwinpost
- (34620) Edwinbodoni
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All asteroids named after someone called Edwin