(13852) Ford Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 7 December 1999 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Named in honor of Ralph Ford for mentoring a finalist in the 2001 Discovery Young Scientist Challenge (DYSC), a middle school science competition. Ford is a teacher at the Manhattan Beach Middle School, Manhattan Beach, California.Naming citation (20011002/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
👶 Ford as a baby name🐶 Ford as a dog name
Where Ford is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ford is 2.62 au from the Sun and 3.05 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 13852 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 XM96 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.72 km (#13,405 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.267 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.54 |
| Orbital period | 3.28 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.21 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.77 – 2.65 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.199 |
| Inclination | 1.29° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.755 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Ralph
- (9003) Ralphmilliken
- (9850) Ralphcopeland
- (9881) Sampson
- (9902) Kirkpatrick
- (10491) Chou
- (11377) Nye
- (12956) Ralphwijers
- (33594) Ralphlawton
- (50427) Ralphmerrifield
- (172191) Ralphmcnutt
All asteroids named after someone called Ralph
Also discovered on 7 December 1999
- (13438) Marthanalexander
- (13845) Jillburnett
- (13848) Cioffi
- (13849) Dunn
- (13850) Erman
- (13853) Jenniferfritz
- (14225) Alisahamilton
- (14226) Hamura
- (14230) Mariahines
- (14679) Susanreed
- (16118) Therberens
- (16119) Bronner