(17555) Kenkennedy Mars-crossing Asteroid
Discovered on 4 November 1993 by R. H. McNaught at Siding Spring.
Kenneth Kennedy (b. 1942) has been an active amateur astronomer in Scotland for fifty years. A retired senior hematologist, he has been Director of the BAA Aurora Section and has encouraged amateur collaboration in professional studies of aurora and polar mesospheric clouds.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2016-11-14), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kenkennedy is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kenkennedy is 1.61 au from the Sun and 0.840 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 17555 |
| Provisional designation | 1993 VC5 |
| Orbit class | Mars-crossing Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.58 km (#16,101 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.290 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.89 |
| Orbital period | 3.65 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.37 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.60 – 3.14 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.326 |
| Inclination | 21.6° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.727 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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- (4969) Lawrence
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All asteroids named after someone called Kenneth