(9997) COBE Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 25 March 1971 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
The American Cosmic Background Explorer COBE was launched 1989 Nov. 18 and helped to answer basic questions on the distribution of matter in the universe, on the first appearance of galaxies and on rotation of the universe. It also mapped interstellar and interplanetary dust clouds.Naming citation (20001111/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where COBE is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: COBE is 2.27 au from the Sun and 1.50 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9997 |
| Provisional designation | 1217 T-1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.41 |
| Orbital period | 4.06 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.55 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.26 – 2.83 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.111 |
| Inclination | 2.46° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.28 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 25 March 1971
- (1873) Agenor
- (5408) The
- (6072) Hooghoudt
- (6616) Plotinos
- (6617) Boethius
- (6673) Degas
- (6751) van Genderen
- (7148) Reinholdbien
- (7211) Xerxes
- (7314) Pevsner
- (7624) Gluck
- (7690) Sackler
More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1778) Alfven
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1813) Imhotep
← (9996) ANS · (9998) ISO →