(12007) Fermat Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 11 October 1996 by P. G. Comba at Prescott.
Pierre Fermat (1601-1665), a lawyer in Toulouse, is considered the greatest amateur mathematician of all time. He was the co-inventor of analytic geometry and the founder of modern number theory. He bequeathed to mathematics a conjecture---the so-called Fermat's last theorem---that was proved only in the 1990s.Naming citation (20000124/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Fermat is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Fermat is 2.47 au from the Sun and 1.69 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12007 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 TD7 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.35 |
| Orbital period | 3.40 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.26 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.04 – 2.48 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0994 |
| Inclination | 6.36° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.04 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Pierre
- (2190) Coubertin
- (5439) Couturier
- (5442) Drossart
- (5523) Luminet
- (8190) Bouguer
- (10139) Ronsard
- (11401) Pierralba
- (11946) Bayle
- (12042) Laques
- (12324) Van Rompaey
- (12580) Antonini
- (13602) Pierreboulez
All asteroids named after someone called Pierre