(9044) Kaoru Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 18 May 1991 by Otomo, S., Muramatsu, O. at Kiyosato.
Named in honor of Kaoru Kimura (b. 1964), lecturer and curator of the Gotoh Planetarium and Astronomical Museum in Tokyo, where she was in charge of an exhibition about the history of constellations. She traveled abroad several times to observe solar eclipses.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kaoru is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kaoru is 2.45 au from the Sun and 2.14 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9044 |
| Provisional designation | 1991 KA |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.63 km (#11,367 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.360 |
| Rotation period | 4.71 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.77 |
| Orbital period | 3.35 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.24 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.01 – 2.47 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.103 |
| Inclination | 4.66° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.999 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
More named asteroids discovered by Otomo, S., Muramatsu, O.
- (5337) Aoki
- (5377) Komori
- (5379) Abehiroshi
- (5829) Ishidagoro
- (6138) Miguelhernandez
- (6520) Sugawa
- (6830) Johnbackus
- (6860) Sims
- (6910) Ikeguchi
- (8276) Shigei
- (8668) Satomimura
- (8855) Miwa
← (9041) Takane · (9052) Uhland →