(3984) Chacos Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 21 September 1984 by H. Debehogne at La Silla.
Albert Anthony Chacos (b. 1953) helped further the exploration of the planets as a key engineer for NASA's New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission. He also played important roles in other space missions, including the Messenger mission to Mercury.Naming citation (20051215/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Chacos is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Chacos is 2.04 au from the Sun and 1.09 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3984 |
| Provisional designation | 1984 SB6 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.57 km (#7,039 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0500 |
| Rotation period | 32.4 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.6 |
| Orbital period | 3.80 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.44 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.99 – 2.88 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.181 |
| Inclination | 2.94° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.993 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Albert
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- (7928) Bijaoui
- (8022) Scottcrossfield
- (9699) Baumhauer
- (10218) Bierstadt
- (10950) Albertjansen
- (10974) Carolalbert
- (12696) Camus
- (13298) Namatjira
- (15619) Albertwu
- (16142) Leung
- (16418) Lortzing
All asteroids named after someone called Albert