(284054) Keeling Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 February 2005 by CSS at Catalina.
Charles David Keeling (1928–2005) was an American climatologist who developed the first reliable instrument for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide. In 1958, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, he began a long-term monitoring program showing by 1961 that carbon dioxide levels were rising. This ongoing record is now known as the Keeling Curve.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #19, 9), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Keeling is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Keeling is 2.86 au from the Sun and 3.82 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 284054 |
| Provisional designation | 2005 CO2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 16.18 |
| Orbital period | 4.15 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.58 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.23 – 2.94 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.137 |
| Inclination | 15.9° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.29 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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All asteroids named after someone called Charles