(4772) Frankdrake Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 2 November 1989 by Hioki, T., Kawasato, N. at Okutama.
Frank Drake (b. 1930) is an American astronomer at the SETI Institute who pioneered the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and conducted the first SETI Search in 1960. He is best known for writing the Drake Equation, trying to quantify the number of active, communicative ET civilizations in the Milky Way.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2015-01-05), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Frankdrake is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Frankdrake is 3.34 au from the Sun and 4.13 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4772 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 VM |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 27.6 km (#1,511 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0400 |
| Rotation period | 16.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.01 |
| Orbital period | 5.62 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.16 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.95 – 3.38 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0679 |
| Inclination | 11.5° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.95 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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