(14495) Kazuakiwatanabe Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 January 1995 by Hirasawa, M., Suzuki, S. at Nyukasa.
Kazuaki Watanabe (b. 1958) runs Showa Kikai, a Japanese manufacturer of astronomical telescopes. Many of its telescopes are widely used in public observatories, research institutions and schools. Kazuaki is also involved in the development team for the compact echelle spectrograph for Saitama University's 0.55-meter reflecting telescope.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #4, 6), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kazuakiwatanabe is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kazuakiwatanabe is 3.43 au from the Sun and 4.36 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 14495 |
| Provisional designation | 1995 AK1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 10.4 km (#4,897 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.114 |
| Rotation period | 8.63 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.29 |
| Orbital period | 4.32 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.65 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.81 – 3.50 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.318 |
| Inclination | 9.78° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.826 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Kazuaki
All asteroids named after someone called Kazuaki