(20383) Hirotakasawada Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 23 May 1998 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Hirotaka Sawada (b. 1976) is a Japanese space robotics engineer who led the development of Hayabusa2’s sampling system, which successfully returned about 5 g of material from the C-type asteroid Ryugu. He also developed the deployable camera system (DCAM3), which observed Hayabusa2’s artificial impact cratering experiment.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #11, 16), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Hirotakasawada is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Hirotakasawada is 3.11 au from the Sun and 2.36 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 20383 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 KU51 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.14 km (#5,656 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.122 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.33 |
| Orbital period | 5.24 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.02 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.70 – 3.33 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.104 |
| Inclination | 11.7° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.69 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 23 May 1998
- (12864) Ryandrake
- (18730) Wingip
- (18731) Vil'bakirov
- (19494) Gerbs
- (19495) Terentyeva
- (19500) Hillaryfultz
- (20366) Bonev
- (20367) Erikagibb
- (20382) Hiroshinaraoka
- (20384) Hongsuhyim
- (20385) Horiuchi
- (20386) Ianfranchi