(10249) Harz Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 17 October 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
The Harz is the northernmost and highest medium-high compact mountain range of Germany. The silver mines were used until the twentieth century, and other ores have been found here. The story goes that witches meet here on May 1, riding their broomsticks on the “Hexentanzplatz” near the Brocken.Naming citation (20030501/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Harz is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Harz is 2.41 au from the Sun and 1.72 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10249 |
| Provisional designation | 9515 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.59 km (#13,731 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.261 |
| Rotation period | 3.63 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.58 |
| Orbital period | 4.14 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.58 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.34 – 2.82 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0929 |
| Inclination | 3.63° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.34 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 17 October 1960
- (1813) Imhotep
- (2082) Galahad
- (2319) Aristides
- (2412) Wil
- (2495) Noviomagum
- (3279) Solon
- (3604) Berkhuijsen
- (3734) Waland
- (4355) Memphis
- (4356) Marathon
- (4907) Zoser
- (5012) Eurymedon