(26986) Caslavska Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 4 November 1997 by L. Sarounova at Ondrejov.
Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská (b. 1942) became famous for her extraordinary achievements at the Olympic games in Tokyo (1964) and Mexico City (1968), winning a total of six gold medals. Proclaimed the world's best sportswoman in 1968, she was chair of the Czech Olympic Committee in the 1990s.Naming citation (20030106/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Caslavska is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Caslavska is 3.33 au from the Sun and 4.26 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 26986 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 VC5 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.82 km (#9,202 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.190 |
| Rotation period | 19.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.09 |
| Orbital period | 5.41 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.08 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.81 – 3.35 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0879 |
| Inclination | 10.6° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.83 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.