(17657) Himawari Inner Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 November 1996 by N. Sato at Chichibu.
Himawari, which means “sunflower”, is the name of a series of Japanese weather satellites. Himawari-1 was launched in 1977, and the latest, Himawari-7, was launched in 2006.Naming citation (20110517/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Himawari is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Himawari is 2.04 au from the Sun and 2.36 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 17657 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 VO4 |
| Orbit class | Inner Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.04 km (#5,731 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0313 |
| Rotation period | 5.51 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.1 |
| Orbital period | 2.68 years |
| Semi-major axis | 1.93 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.76 – 2.09 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0869 |
| Inclination | 23.1° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.838 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 6 November 1996
- (7616) Sadako
- (8574) Makotoirie
- (9099) Kenjitanabe
- (10880) Kaguya
- (17656) Hayabusa
- (18520) Wolfratshausen
- (18524) Tagatoshihiro
- (19313) Shibatakazunari
- (22454) Rosalylopes
- (27917) Edoardo
- (27918) Azusagawa