(4273) Dunhuang Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 October 1978 by Purple Mountain Observatory at Nanking.
Dunhuang city, located in the northwest of China, was of strategic importance on the ancient Silk Road and as a metropolis for the exchange of culture between east and west in the Han and Tang dynasties. The Mogoa Grotto in Dunhuang is one of the largest well-preserved treasure houses of the world's Buddhist art.Naming citation (20010804/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Dunhuang is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Dunhuang is 1.86 au from the Sun and 0.894 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4273 |
| Provisional designation | 1978 UU1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.54 km (#11,558 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.262 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.76 |
| Orbital period | 3.71 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.86 – 2.93 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.225 |
| Inclination | 3.03° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.856 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.