(8617) Fellous Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 August 1980 by Z. Vavrova at Klet.
Jean-Louis Fellous (b. 1947) served as COSPAR Executive Director for over a decade. He was essential to COSPAR’s mission to encourage and facilitate international cooperation in space research, particularly when the organization of COSPAR activities was difficult for either internal or external circumstances.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2020-11-17), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Fellous is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Fellous is 2.25 au from the Sun and 2.09 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8617 |
| Provisional designation | 1980 PW |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.06 km (#10,499 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.209 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.09 |
| Orbital period | 3.77 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.42 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.91 – 2.94 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.213 |
| Inclination | 4.01° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.907 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Louis
- (6605) Carmontelle
- (7645) Pons
- (9135) Lacaille
- (9969) Braille
- (10930) Jinyong
- (11248) Bleriot
- (11309) Malus
- (11796) Nirenberg
- (11969) Gay-Lussac
- (12715) Godin
- (12750) Berthollet
- (12766) Paschen
All asteroids named after someone called Louis
Also discovered on 6 August 1980
- (2522) Triglav
- (2523) Ryba
- (2544) Gubarev
- (2570) Porphyro
- (3908) Nyx
- (4170) Semmelweis
- (6263) Druckmuller
- (7860) Zahnle
- (8066) Poldimeri
- (8991) Solidarity
- (11005) Waldtrudering