(18553) Kinkakuji Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 January 1997 by N. Sato at Chichibu.
Kinkakuji is the popular name of a gilded pavilion in the Rokuon-ji temple complex (a World Cultural Heritage site) in Kyoto, Japan, that attracts about 1.5 million visitors annually. The temple is intimately connected with Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the third shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate.Naming citation (20120703/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kinkakuji is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kinkakuji is 2.72 au from the Sun and 2.72 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 18553 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 AZ21 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.90 km (#5,158 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0650 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.59 |
| Orbital period | 5.48 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.11 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.66 – 3.55 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.143 |
| Inclination | 1.01° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.65 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 6 January 1997
- (7618) Gotoyukichi
- (8930) Kubota
- (8931) Hirokimatsuo
- (8932) Nagatomo
- (8933) Kurobe
- (9107) Narukospa
- (17681) Tweedledum
- (23638) Nagano
More named asteroids discovered by N. Sato
- (7851) Azumino
- (8581) Johnen
- (8924) Iruma
- (8933) Kurobe
- (9230) Yasuda
- (10224) Hisashi
- (10880) Kaguya
- (10916) Okina-Ouna
- (12027) Masaakitanaka
- (12031) Kobaton
- (12456) Genichiaraki
- (12460) Mando
← (18551) Bovet · (18555) Courant →