(2305) King Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 12 September 1980 by Harvard Observatory at Harvard.
Named in memory of Martin Luther King (1929-1968), the American civil rights leader who worked to bring about social, political and economic equality for blacks by peaceful means. A Baptist minister who received the 1964 Nobel peace prize, he preached 'non-violent resistance' to achieve full civil rights for all.Naming citation (MPC 6208), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
👶 King as a baby name🐶 King as a dog name🐱 King as a cat name
Where King is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: King is 2.74 au from the Sun and 2.44 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 2305 |
| Provisional designation | 1980 RJ1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 12.7 km (#3,842 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.209 |
| Rotation period | 3.04 hours |
| Spectral type | S |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.74 |
| Orbital period | 4.65 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.79 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.70 – 2.87 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0298 |
| Inclination | 7.46° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.70 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Martin
- (6385) Martindavid
- (6642) Henze
- (7100) Martin Luther
- (7239) Mobberley
- (7398) Walsh
- (7547) Martinnakata
- (7846) Setvak
- (8074) Slade
- (8152) Martinlee
- (9143) Burkhead
- (9283) Martinelvis
- (9521) Martinhoffmann
All asteroids named after someone called Martin