(12157) Konnen Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Günther Peter Können (b. 1944), a researcher at the Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut, specialized in atmospheric optics. He is famous for his book Polarized light in Nature, which describes phenomena such as halos and rainbows. The name was suggested by M. Drummen.Naming citation (20091202/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Konnen is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Konnen is 2.59 au from the Sun and 1.85 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12157 |
| Provisional designation | 1070 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.57 km (#16,136 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.353 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.99 |
| Orbital period | 3.75 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.41 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.18 – 2.65 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0978 |
| Inclination | 5.83° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.17 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Gunther
All asteroids named after someone called Gunther
Also discovered on 29 September 1973
- (2049) Grietje
- (4357) Korinthos
- (4549) Burkhardt
- (4721) Atahualpa
- (4752) Myron
- (4876) Strabo
- (4978) Seitz
- (5151) Weerstra
- (5197) Rottmann
- (5243) Clasien
- (5244) Amphilochos
- (5266) Rauch
More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1778) Alfven
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1813) Imhotep
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