(3753) Cruithne Aten
Discovered on 10 October 1986 by J. D. Waldron at Siding Spring.
Named for the most common term used by the Irish for the Picts---one of the ancient peoples of Scotland. ‘Cruithne’ was the eponymous ancestor of the Picts, and it was his seven sons who gave their names to the seven divisions of the Pictish Kingdom.Naming citation (19980411/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Cruithne is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Cruithne is 0.919 au from the Sun and 0.680 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3753 |
| Provisional designation | 1986 TO |
| Orbit class | Aten · near-Earth |
| Diameter | 2.07 km (#16,962 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.365 |
| Rotation period | 27.3 hours |
| Spectral type | Q |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.42 |
| Orbital period | 0.997 years |
| Semi-major axis | 0.998 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 0.484 – 1.51 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.515 |
| Inclination | 19.8° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.0707 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.