(12143) Harwit Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Czech-born American astrophysicist Martin O. Harwit (b. 1931) pioneered infrared observations and spectroscopy from space. He has helped plan several space-based observatories for NASA and the European Space Agency. From 1987 to 1995 he was director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.Naming citation (20070926/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Harwit is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Harwit is 2.22 au from the Sun and 3.21 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12143 |
| Provisional designation | 4631 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.01 km (#15,206 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.408 |
| Rotation period | 33.5 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.45 |
| Orbital period | 3.56 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.33 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.22 – 2.44 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0474 |
| Inclination | 7.21° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.22 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Martin
- (2305) King
- (6385) Martindavid
- (6642) Henze
- (7100) Martin Luther
- (7239) Mobberley
- (7398) Walsh
- (7547) Martinnakata
- (7846) Setvak
- (8074) Slade
- (8152) Martinlee
- (9143) Burkhead
- (9283) Martinelvis
All asteroids named after someone called Martin
Also discovered on 24 September 1960
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1846) Bengt
- (1868) Thersites