(15902) Dostal Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 13 September 1997 by L. Sarounova at Ondrejov.
Czech globetrotter Víťa Dostál (b. 1959) became a legend as the first person in his country to cycle alone 60 000 km around the world. He described the 1994-1997 adventure in Lucky Planet. A professional farmer, during 2006-2007 he made the Panamericana solo bike tour from Anchorage to Ushuaia in 223 days.Naming citation (20070926/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Dostal is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Dostal is 2.47 au from the Sun and 3.46 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 15902 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 RA9 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Rotation period | 5.58 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.11 |
| Orbital period | 3.40 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.26 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.04 – 2.48 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0959 |
| Inclination | 5.68° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.04 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.