(20382) Hiroshinaraoka Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 23 May 1998 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Hiroshi Naraoka (b. 1960) is a Japanese cosmochemist who led the analyses of organic molecules in asteroid Ryugu samples. His team identified over 20,000 organic molecules from Ryugu, including more than twenty amino acids, nucleobases, and interstellar PAHs. These findings demonstrated that C-type asteroids could serve as factories of prebiotic molecules.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #11, 16), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Hiroshinaraoka is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Hiroshinaraoka is 3.13 au from the Sun and 2.42 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 20382 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 KW49 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.56 km (#9,627 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.109 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.21 |
| Orbital period | 5.18 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.99 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.83 – 3.16 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0559 |
| Inclination | 11.8° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.82 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Hiroshi
- (4965) Takeda
- (5379) Abehiroshi
- (5830) Simohiro
- (6244) Okamoto
- (7250) Kinoshita
- (7254) Kuratani
- (7264) Hirohatanaka
- (8197) Mizunohiroshi
- (8543) Tsunemi
- (8707) Arakihiroshi
- (8891) Irokawa
- (8923) Yamakawa
All asteroids named after someone called Hiroshi
Also discovered on 23 May 1998
- (12864) Ryandrake
- (18730) Wingip
- (18731) Vil'bakirov
- (19494) Gerbs
- (19495) Terentyeva
- (19500) Hillaryfultz
- (20366) Bonev
- (20367) Erikagibb
- (20383) Hirotakasawada
- (20384) Hongsuhyim
- (20385) Horiuchi
- (20386) Ianfranchi