(69434) de Gerlache Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 18 April 1996 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Adrien de Gerlache (1866-1934), an officer in the Royal Belgian Navy, set sail on 1897 Aug. 16 on a scientific mission from Antwerp to Antarctica. The expedition became trapped in the ice on the Bellinghaus Sea and had to struggle to escape for more than a year before they could return to Antwerp.Naming citation (20080321/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where de Gerlache is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: de Gerlache is 3.91 au from the Sun and 3.29 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 69434 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 HC21 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 11.3 km (#4,398 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0720 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.56 |
| Orbital period | 5.53 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.13 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.33 – 3.92 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.254 |
| Inclination | 13.4° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.33 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Adrien
All asteroids named after someone called Adrien
Also discovered on 18 April 1996
- (7849) Janjosefric
- (7902) Hanff
- (9797) Raes
- (9984) Gregbryant
- (10184) Galvani
- (10185) Gaudi
- (11334) Rio de Janeiro
- (13178) Catalan
- (13179) Johncochrane
- (13180) Fourcroy
- (14069) Krasheninnikov
- (31028) Cerulli