(15861) Ispahan Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 17 April 1996 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Ispahan is an old and beautiful Persian-Iranian city about 340 km from Teheran. Van Eyck's poem De Tuinman en de Dood tells the story of a gardener who met Death in the garden of his master. Frightened by the prospect he requested his master's horse and fled to Ispahan, where Death was awaiting him.Naming citation (20060809/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Ispahan is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ispahan is 3.10 au from the Sun and 4.04 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 15861 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 HB12 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.80 km (#5,917 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.250 |
| Rotation period | 169 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.71 |
| Orbital period | 5.17 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.99 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.58 – 3.40 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.137 |
| Inclination | 13.6° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.60 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 17 April 1996
- (7537) Solvay
- (8116) Jeanperrin
- (8308) Julie-Melissa
- (9430) Erichthonios
- (9664) Brueghel
- (13177) Hansschmidt
- (13644) Lynnanderson
- (15364) Kenglover
- (16730) Nijisseiki
- (16731) Mitsumata
- (18493) Demoleon
- (23617) Duna