(9912) Donizetti Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 October 1977 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
The Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) wrote symphonies, church and chamber music. After 1818 he composed 74 operas. He is still much esteemed today.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Donizetti is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Donizetti is 2.88 au from the Sun and 1.96 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9912 |
| Provisional designation | 2078 T-3 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.92 km (#7,744 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.255 |
| Rotation period | 6.23 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.26 |
| Orbital period | 4.10 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.56 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.17 – 2.95 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.152 |
| Inclination | 7.24° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.18 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Gaetano
All asteroids named after someone called Gaetano
Also discovered on 16 October 1977
- (3798) de Jager
- (3936) Elst
- (4044) Erikhog
- (4108) Rakos
- (4722) Agelaos
- (4753) Phidias
- (4754) Panthoos
- (5610) Balster
- (5699) Munch
- (5700) Homerus
- (5984) Lysippus
- (6055) Brunelleschi