(8729) Descour Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 5 November 1996 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak.
Anne S. Descour (b. 1968) is an imaginative and energetic computer scientist at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Her software for interprocess communications and a graphical user interface has improved Spacewatch's ability for detecting comets and minor planets.Naming citation (20000523/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Descour is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Descour is 2.36 au from the Sun and 1.43 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8729 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 VZ12 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.27 km (#14,563 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.199 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.03 |
| Orbital period | 3.75 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.42 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.34 – 2.49 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0327 |
| Inclination | 2.66° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.35 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Anne
- (7330) Annelemaitre
- (9726) Verbiscer
- (10278) Virkki
- (10704) Sidey
- (15509) Annejing
- (16479) Paulze
- (17904) Annekoupal
- (20206) Annewellbrock
- (20330) Manwell
- (27110) Annemaryvonne
- (27169) Annelabruzzo
- (30040) Annemerrill
All asteroids named after someone called Anne
Also discovered on 5 November 1996
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