(9902) Kirkpatrick Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 3 July 1997 by P. G. Comba at Prescott.

Named for Ralph Kirkpatrick (1911-1984), eminent American harpsichordist, clavichordist, musicologist and teacher. He traveled extensively in Europe, where he studied seventeenth-century and eighteenth-century performance practices in chamber music. He wrote a biography of Domenico Scarlatti and prepared a facsimile edition of his more than 500 sonatas. He gave many concerts, specializing in the performance of works by Scarlatti and J. S. Bach.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Kirkpatrick is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kirkpatrick is 2.39 au from the Sun and 2.97 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	9902
Provisional designation	1997 NY
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	3.61 km (#13,680 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.179
Rotation period	6.03 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.44
Orbital period	3.29 years
Semi-major axis	2.21 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.03 – 2.39 au
Eccentricity	0.0826
Inclination	5.32°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.04 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also named after someone called Ralph

All asteroids named after someone called Ralph

More named asteroids discovered by P. G. Comba

All 179

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