(18238) Frankshu Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Frank Shu (b. 1943), president of National Tsinghua University in Taiwan and former professor at the University of California in Berkeley, is well known for his fundamental contributions to the theory of star formation.Naming citation (20050919/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Frankshu is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Frankshu is 2.83 au from the Sun and 2.38 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 18238 |
| Provisional designation | 1241 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.80 km (#11,021 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.133 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.51 |
| Orbital period | 5.35 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.06 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.77 – 3.34 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0930 |
| Inclination | 8.79° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.77 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Frank
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All asteroids named after someone called Frank
Also discovered on 29 September 1973
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