(5625) Jamesferguson Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 7 January 1991 by R. H. McNaught at Siding Spring.
James Ferguson (1710–1776) was a Scottish astronomer, who had wide-ranging talents, from portraiture, globe and orrery manufacture, popularizing scientific principles through books and lectures, to significant original research. His educational work inspired a generation of the public and a new generation of astronomers.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #12, 11), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Jamesferguson is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Jamesferguson is 2.85 au from the Sun and 3.60 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5625 |
| Provisional designation | 1991 AO2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 14.8 km (#3,189 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0610 |
| Rotation period | 6.67 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.14 |
| Orbital period | 4.38 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.68 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.16 – 3.19 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.193 |
| Inclination | 12.0° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.17 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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