(12618) Cellarius Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596-1665), a German schoolmaster from Neuhausen near Worms, settled in Amsterdam in the early 1620s, becoming rector of the Latin School in Hoorn in 1637. His Harmonia Macrocosmica, published 1660 in Amsterdam, ranks amongst the most spectacular celestial atlases of the seventeenth century.Naming citation (20080122/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Cellarius is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Cellarius is 3.54 au from the Sun and 2.54 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12618 |
| Provisional designation | 6217 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.5 |
| Orbital period | 5.46 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.10 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.65 – 3.55 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.144 |
| Inclination | 16.1° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.65 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Andreas
- (8164) Andreasdoppler
- (10210) Nathues
- (12496) Ekholm
- (17368) Korn
- (26429) Andiwagner
- (58098) Quirrenbach
- (112233) Kammerer
- (140602) Berlind
- (145566) Andreasphilipp
- (216624) Kaufer
- (263391) Gruntzig
- (267003) Burkert
All asteroids named after someone called Andreas
Also discovered on 24 September 1960
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1846) Bengt
- (1868) Thersites