(1952) Hesburgh Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 3 May 1951 by Indiana University at Brooklyn.
Named in honor of the Very Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President of the University of Notre Dame since 1952. Father Hesburgh has an extraordinary record of public service in areas ranging from the humanitarian to the technical and scientific. During his 12 years as a member of the National Science Board he played a very important role in the founding of both the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory. His support for CTIO during the 1964 period of inflation in Chile was decisive. Name proposed by F. K. Edmondson.Naming citation (MPC 5688), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Hesburgh is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Hesburgh is 2.89 au from the Sun and 3.29 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 1952 |
| Provisional designation | 1951 JC |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 37.5 km (#1,054 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0800 |
| Rotation period | 47.5 hours |
| Spectral type | CD: |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 10.45 |
| Orbital period | 5.48 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.11 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.66 – 3.56 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.145 |
| Inclination | 14.3° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.67 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Theodore
All asteroids named after someone called Theodore