(10303) Freret Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 2 September 1989 by E. W. Elst at Haute Provence.
The famous French historian Nicolas Fréret (1688-1749), well known for his atheistic treatise Lettre de Thrasybule à Leucippe (1720), was imprisoned in the Bastille for alleging---correctly---that the Franks were evolved from German tribes.Naming citation (19991123/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Freret is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Freret is 2.06 au from the Sun and 1.19 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10303 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 RD2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.42 km (#14,170 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.345 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.46 |
| Orbital period | 3.67 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.38 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.80 – 2.96 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.244 |
| Inclination | 2.83° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.787 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Nicolas
- (7346) Boulanger
- (12289) Carnot
- (12742) Delisle
- (12999) Torun
- (13583) Bosret
- (14054) Dusek
- (14411) Clerambault
- (18638) Nouet
- (20605) Rambaux
- (25747) Nicerasmus
- (26969) Biver
- (43843) Cleynaerts
All asteroids named after someone called Nicolas
Also discovered on 2 September 1989
More named asteroids discovered by E. W. Elst
- (3631) Sigyn
- (3784) Chopin
- (3870) Mayre
- (3903) Kliment Ohridski
- (3910) Liszt
- (3912) Troja
- (3918) Brel
- (4038) Kristina
- (4226) Damiaan
- (4342) Freud
- (4344) Buxtehude
- (4345) Rachmaninoff
← (10301) Kataoka · (10304) Iwaki →