(8691) Etsuko Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 21 October 1992 by Kushida, Y., Muramatsu, O. at Yatsugatake.

Named in honor of Etsuko Kobayashi (b. 1926), the first female lecturer at the Gotoh Planetarium and Astronomical Museum in Tokyo, where she worked for 30 years until 1986. Famous for her lecturing style, which left many listeners spellbound, she has educated many young lecturers who are active in the field today. She also worked for the publisher of a science journal and is now a well-known author of astronomy books herself. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by S. Kimura.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

👶 Etsuko as a baby name

Where Etsuko is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Etsuko is 2.14 au from the Sun and 1.51 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	8691
Provisional designation	1992 UZ1
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	4.59 km (#11,455 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.231
Rotation period	9.60 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.82
Orbital period	3.82 years
Semi-major axis	2.44 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.07 – 2.82 au
Eccentricity	0.153
Inclination	5.50°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.08 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also discovered on 21 October 1992

More named asteroids discovered by Kushida, Y., Muramatsu, O.

All 36

← (8690) Swindle · (8693) Matsuki →