(4732) Froeschle Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 3 May 1981 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.

Named in honor of Claude and Christiane Froeschlé, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, Nice. Husband and wife, the Froeschlés have both contributed to our understanding of the dynamics of minor bodies (minor planets, comets, meteorites and dust particles) by numerical analysis of their orbital evolution. Claude was one of the first to investigate ergodic and chaotic regions in mean-motion resonances with Jupiter. He tested the so-called gravitational hypothesis for the formation of the Kirkwood gaps and showed that meteor streams situated in mean motion resonances may break into separate parts. He also modeled the dynamical evolution of short-period comets using a Monte Carlo method. Christiane was one of the first to explore orbital evolution at secular resonances. She has shown that the principal secular resonances are good candidate sources for meteorites. Citation provided by H. Scholl at the request of the discoverer.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #14, 4), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Froeschle is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Froeschle is 3.26 au from the Sun and 4.02 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	4732
Provisional designation	1981 JG
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	30.0 km (#1,360 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0600
Rotation period	6.00 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.51
Orbital period	5.61 years
Semi-major axis	3.16 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.93 – 3.39 au
Eccentricity	0.0721
Inclination	16.9°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.95 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also named after someone called Christiane

All asteroids named after someone called Christiane

Also discovered on 3 May 1981

More named asteroids discovered by E. Bowell

All 554

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