(7853) Confucius Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Named after Confucius (551-471 B.C.), the famous Chinese philosopher. Nothing written by Confucius has survived, but his pupils compiled a collection of his sayings and anecdotes in the Master Cung. Confucius was convinced that the self-discipline and virtue shown by society's leaders would influence everyone. During the Han dynasty, Confucius was venerated as a god, and in the Sung dynasty his rules of living filtered into politics and education.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Confucius is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Confucius is 3.72 au from the Sun and 2.75 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7853 |
| Provisional designation | 2086 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Rotation period | 26.6 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.22 |
| Orbital period | 5.29 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.04 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.29 – 3.79 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.247 |
| Inclination | 5.91° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.29 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 29 September 1973
- (2049) Grietje
- (4357) Korinthos
- (4549) Burkhardt
- (4721) Atahualpa
- (4752) Myron
- (4876) Strabo
- (4978) Seitz
- (5151) Weerstra
- (5197) Rottmann
- (5243) Clasien
- (5244) Amphilochos
- (5266) Rauch