(361450) Houellebecq Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 21 January 2007 by J.-C. Merlin at Nogales.
Michel Houellebecq (Michel Thomas, b. 1958) is a French author, filmmaker and poet. In 2010 he published the Prix Goncourt-winning La Carte et le Territoire. The intrusion of free-market-economics into human relationships and the loneliness of the human being in an absurd decadent world are his favorite themes.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #8, 5), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Houellebecq is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Houellebecq is 2.97 au from the Sun and 2.04 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 361450 |
| Provisional designation | 2007 BM73 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 16.3 |
| Orbital period | 5.40 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.08 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.97 – 3.19 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0367 |
| Inclination | 8.73° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.96 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Michel
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- (18510) Chasles
- (20741) Jeanmichelreess
- (25625) Verdenet
- (27949) Jonasz
- (31201) Michellegrand
- (37848) Michelmeunier
- (38829) Vandeputte
- (49108) Gouttesolard
- (63129) Courtemanche
All asteroids named after someone called Michel