(20346) Firre Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 23 April 1998 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Daniel Firre (b. 1976) is a Belgian astronomer and ground operations engineer who has worked at the European Space Agency for over two decades. He is a “spacecraft whisperer” as his work consists in communicating and receiving the data from the spacecraft, from launch to mission end. Missions Daniel has been proudly part of are DART, Hera and Ramses.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #11, 14), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Firre is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Firre is 2.69 au from the Sun and 2.84 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 20346 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 HZ114 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.37 km (#6,251 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0890 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.36 |
| Orbital period | 3.70 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.07 – 2.72 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.137 |
| Inclination | 11.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.06 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Daniel
- (6141) Durda
- (7162) Sidwell
- (7163) Barenboim
- (8109) Danielwilliam
- (8887) Scheeres
- (10081) Dantaylor
- (10482) Dangrieser
- (11203) Danielbetten
- (11230) Deschaffer
- (11596) Francetic
- (12503) Danielpeterson
- (13267) Bolechowski
All asteroids named after someone called Daniel
Also discovered on 23 April 1998
- (9465) Fergusonsam
- (11367) Rachelseevers
- (11723) Briankennedy
- (12097) Peterlowen
- (12099) Meigooni
- (12525) Kathleenloia
- (19484) Vanessaspini
- (19487) Rosscoleman
- (19488) Abramcoley
- (20345) Davidvito
- (20347) Wunderlich
- (20348) Fodde