(11778) Kingsford Smith Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 October 1977 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Charles E. Kingsford Smith (1897–1935) was an Australian pilot who flew from America to Australia across the Pacific (1928) and from Europe to America from east to west (1930). Both flights were done with the Fokker F VII Southern Cross. He died when his plane went down over the Indian Ocean near Burma.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #13, 9), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kingsford Smith is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kingsford Smith is 2.13 au from the Sun and 3.10 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 11778 |
| Provisional designation | 4102 T-3 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.84 km (#15,568 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.263 |
| Rotation period | 2.94 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.16 |
| Orbital period | 3.18 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.16 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.03 – 2.29 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0619 |
| Inclination | 4.14° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.05 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Charles
- (1991) Darwin
- (4603) Bertaud
- (4939) Scovil
- (5202) Charleseliot
- (7011) Worley
- (7781) Townsend
- (9714) Piazzismyth
- (10320) Reiland
- (11356) Chuckjones
- (11849) Fauvel
- (12259) Szukalski
- (13801) Kohlhase
All asteroids named after someone called Charles
Also discovered on 16 October 1977
- (3798) de Jager
- (3936) Elst
- (4044) Erikhog
- (4108) Rakos
- (4722) Agelaos
- (4753) Phidias
- (4754) Panthoos
- (5610) Balster
- (5699) Munch
- (5700) Homerus
- (5984) Lysippus
- (6055) Brunelleschi