(4252) Godwin Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 11 September 1985 by H. Debehogne at La Silla.
Richard Godwin (b. 1955), a board member of the Space Frontier Foundation, served as executive director of The Watch, a support organization for NEO detection. His brother Robert Godwin (b. 1958) is a space expert and space-history researcher. Together they founded a space book company and write extensively on space.Naming citation (20071124/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Godwin is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Godwin is 2.61 au from the Sun and 3.11 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4252 |
| Provisional designation | 1985 RG4 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.38 km (#7,233 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.325 |
| Rotation period | 11.6 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.96 |
| Orbital period | 4.33 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.66 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.29 – 3.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.138 |
| Inclination | 13.5° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.32 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Richard
- (4143) Huziak
- (5391) Emmons
- (5567) Durisen
- (6368) Richardmenendez
- (6893) Sanderson
- (7392) Kowalski
- (7845) Mckim
- (7966) Richardbaum
- (8331) Dawkins
- (8717) Richviktorov
- (9725) Wainscoat
- (9882) Stallman
All asteroids named after someone called Richard
Also discovered on 11 September 1985
More named asteroids discovered by H. Debehogne
- (2364) Seillier
- (2543) Machado
- (2590) Mourao
- (2673) Lossignol
- (2707) Ueferji
- (2814) Vieira
- (2852) Declercq
- (2926) Caldeira
- (3002) Delasalle
- (3138) Ciney
- (3274) Maillen
- (3365) Recogne
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