(32796) Ehrenfest Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 2 March 1990 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Working at the University of Leiden after 1912, Jewish-Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest (1880-1933) made important contributions to statistical mechanics and quantum physics, linking the two disciplines. The Ehrenfest Time is a measure of the departure of quantum dynamics from classical dynamics.Naming citation (20080618/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Ehrenfest is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ehrenfest is 2.72 au from the Sun and 1.80 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 32796 |
| Provisional designation | 1990 ET2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.16 km (#10,329 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.289 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.64 |
| Orbital period | 4.34 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.66 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.24 – 3.08 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.157 |
| Inclination | 12.8° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.26 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 2 March 1990
- (4546) Franck
- (5780) Lafontaine
- (6309) Elsschot
- (6483) Nikolajvasil'ev
- (6780) Borodin
- (7285) Seggewiss
- (8652) Acacia
- (9329) Nikolaimedtner
- (11506) Toulouse-Lautrec
- (11876) Doncarpenter
- (13037) Potosi
- (13038) Woolston