(14961) d'Auteroche Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 8 June 1996 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Abbé Jean Chappe d´Auteroche dedicated his life to observational astronomy. He observed the 1761 transit of Venus from Tobolsk and later published his Voyage en Siberie. In 1769, he went to observe the next transit in Baja California and perished in an epidemic shortly after making his observations.Naming citation (20041126/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where d'Auteroche is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: d'Auteroche is 2.67 au from the Sun and 3.64 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 14961 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 LV3 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.98 km (#7,676 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0690 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.59 |
| Orbital period | 3.85 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.46 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.06 – 2.86 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.164 |
| Inclination | 3.47° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.04 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.