(3587) Descartes Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 8 September 1981 by L. V. Zhuravleva at Nauchnyj.
Where Descartes is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Descartes is 2.60 au from the Sun and 1.87 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3587 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 RK5 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 14.6 km (#3,224 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0590 |
| Spectral type | C |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.93 |
| Orbital period | 4.44 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.70 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.60 – 2.80 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0367 |
| Inclination | 7.83° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.62 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 8 September 1981
- (4434) Nikulin
- (4524) Barklajdetolli
- (7381) Mamontov
- (7382) Bozhenkova
- (7736) Nizhnij Novgorod
- (24637) Ol'gusha
More named asteroids discovered by L. V. Zhuravleva
- (1858) Lobachevskij
- (1859) Kovalevskaya
- (1909) Alekhin
- (1910) Mikhailov
- (1959) Karbyshev
- (2015) Kachuevskaya
- (2098) Zyskin
- (2130) Evdokiya
- (2173) Maresjev
- (2188) Orlenok
- (2233) Kuznetsov
- (2283) Bunke
← (3586) Vasnetsov · (3588) Kirik →