(11874) Gringauz Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 2 December 1989 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Konstantin Gringauz (1918-1993) became involved in ionospheric studies early in his career. He participated in the launching of Sputnik 1 by constructing the beep-beep transmitter. During 1982-1986 he was responsible for designing and implementing plasma experiments aboard VEGA 1 and 2.Naming citation (20010509/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Gringauz is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Gringauz is 1.89 au from the Sun and 0.896 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 11874 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 XD1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.06 km (#15,057 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.188 |
| Rotation period | 1.02 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.15 |
| Orbital period | 3.37 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.25 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.89 – 2.61 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.161 |
| Inclination | 4.88° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.888 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Konstantin
- (5269) Paustovskij
- (5315) Bal'mont
- (5415) Lyanzuridi
- (5614) Yakovlev
- (14042) Agafonov
- (22250) Konstfrolov
- (48425) Tischendorf
- (301522) Chaykin
- (549873) Portsevskii
- (584947) Shistovsky
All asteroids named after someone called Konstantin