(8667) Fontane Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 9 April 1991 by F. Borngen at Tautenburg.
Named for Theodor Fontane (1819-1898) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death. He brought the German novel to worldwide importance. Descended from a Huguenot family, he worked as an apothecary, travel writer, editor, drama critic and finally as a full-time writer. Besides ballads and the multivolume Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg, his novels are especially significant (e.g. Effi Briest, Der Stechlin). He chose his material mostly from Prussian history and the Berlin of his times. He combined love of tradition with open-mindedness for the new and skepticism with religious faith.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Fontane is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Fontane is 2.35 au from the Sun and 1.70 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8667 |
| Provisional designation | 1991 GH10 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.22 km (#12,216 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.189 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.11 |
| Orbital period | 3.76 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.42 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.17 – 2.66 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.103 |
| Inclination | 6.83° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.18 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Theodor
All asteroids named after someone called Theodor
Also discovered on 9 April 1991
- (5378) Ellyett
- (6327) Tijn
- (6402) Holstein
- (6450) Masahikohayashi
- (6451) Karnten
- (7584) Ossietzky
- (8666) Reuter
- (8853) Gerdlehmann
- (10331) Peterbluhm
- (10778) Marcks
- (11899) Weill
- (16529) Dangoldin