(7176) Kuniji Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 December 1989 by Endate, K., Watanabe, K. at Kitami.
Named in honor of Kuniji Saito (b. 1913), who joined the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory in 1936 and was engaged mainly in research on the solar corona. Following his retirement in 1974, he has collected historical materials from Japan, China and other countries to analyze them from the viewpoint of modern astronomy, using computers. He named this field of research “paleoastronomy” and hopes that many other researchers will enter into this kind of research. He also served as president of the Astronomical Society of Japan. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by A. Fujii and A. Tanno.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kuniji is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kuniji is 2.42 au from the Sun and 2.26 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7176 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 XH |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.73 km (#7,963 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.324 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.1 |
| Orbital period | 4.59 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.76 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.38 – 3.14 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.137 |
| Inclination | 7.94° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.39 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.