(9696) Jaffe Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Walter J. Jaffe (b. 1947) is an American astronomer at Leiden Observatory with an interest in galaxies, their dynamics, internal and external (clusters) and gas processes therein. He also contributed to the software for the Hubble telescope.Naming citation (20001111/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Jaffe is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Jaffe is 2.88 au from the Sun and 3.68 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9696 |
| Provisional designation | 6628 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.69 |
| Orbital period | 3.79 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.43 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.97 – 2.89 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.189 |
| Inclination | 1.29° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.964 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Walter
- (4588) Wislicenus
- (6318) Cronkite
- (7921) Huebner
- (8722) Schirra
- (9132) Walteranderson
- (9187) Walterkroll
- (9577) Gropius
- (9661) Hohmann
- (11789) Kempowski
- (12158) Tape
- (15265) Ernsting
- (15968) Waltercugno
All asteroids named after someone called Walter
Also discovered on 24 September 1960
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1846) Bengt
- (1868) Thersites