(9820) Hempel Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 26 March 1971 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Rolf Hempel (b. 1956) is a German amateur astronomer who determined many high-quality positions of minor planets using a quite unconventional measuring device. His orbit determination software is still in use at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut. The name was suggested by L. D. Schmadel.Naming citation (20021120/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Hempel is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Hempel is 2.65 au from the Sun and 2.01 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9820 |
| Provisional designation | 3064 T-1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.31 km (#16,579 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.274 |
| Rotation period | 0.970 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.19 |
| Orbital period | 3.61 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.35 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.02 – 2.69 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.142 |
| Inclination | 0.271° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.02 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Rolf
All asteroids named after someone called Rolf
Also discovered on 26 March 1971
- (5195) Kaendler
- (5491) Kaulbach
- (5492) Thoma
- (5698) Nolde
- (6202) Georgemiley
- (6257) Thorvaldsen
- (6351) Neumann
- (6429) Brancusi
- (6674) Cezanne
- (6752) Ashley
- (7367) Giotto
- (7908) Zwingli