(12281) Chaumont Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 November 1990 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Chaumont is the capital of the Haute Marne department in France. Of the castle of the Counts of Champagne, only a tower remains. The town hall from the eighteenth century is a beautiful piece of art.Naming citation (20031110/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Chaumont is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Chaumont is 2.77 au from the Sun and 1.86 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12281 |
| Provisional designation | 1990 WA5 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 16.0 km (#2,898 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0400 |
| Rotation period | 16.9 hours |
| Spectral type | X |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.95 |
| Orbital period | 4.53 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.74 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.70 – 2.78 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0157 |
| Inclination | 6.35° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.68 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.