(10606) Crocco Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 3 November 1996 by Giuliani, V., Manca, F. at Sormano.
Gaetano Arturo Crocco (1877-1968), Italian pioneer in aeronautics and space science, designed revolutionary airships and patented a cyclic pitch design for helicopter rotors. A professor of aeronautics in Rome, he founded the Italian Rocket Society.Naming citation (20020328/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Crocco is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Crocco is 3.41 au from the Sun and 4.20 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10606 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 VD1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 10.1 km (#5,059 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0910 |
| Rotation period | 7.74 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.49 |
| Orbital period | 5.59 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.15 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.83 – 3.47 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.102 |
| Inclination | 17.6° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.88 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Gaetano
All asteroids named after someone called Gaetano
Also discovered on 3 November 1996
- (8416) Okada
- (10604) Susanoo
- (10605) Guidoni
- (10878) Moriyama
- (10882) Shinonaga
- (11128) Ostravia
- (17651) Tajimi
- (17652) Nepoti
- (21289) Giacomel
- (22450) Nove Hrady
- (29408) Katoyuko
- (35298) Azumachiharu