(2872) Gentelec Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 5 September 1981 by Oak Ridge Observatory at Harvard.
Where Gentelec is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Gentelec is 2.95 au from the Sun and 2.20 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 2872 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 RU |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 13.6 km (#3,505 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.150 |
| Rotation period | 10.6 hours |
| Spectral type | D |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.3 |
| Orbital period | 4.54 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.74 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.42 – 3.06 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.118 |
| Inclination | 2.88° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.44 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 5 September 1981
More named asteroids discovered by Oak Ridge Observatory
- (2674) Pandarus
- (3076) Garber
- (3342) Fivesparks
- (3773) Smithsonian
- (3797) Ching-Sung Yu
- (4372) Quincy
- (4733) ORO
- (5976) Kalatajean
- (6696) Eubanks
- (6949) Zissell
- (7276) Maymie
- (7383) Lassovszky
← (2871) Schober · (2873) Binzel →