(7189) Kuniko Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 28 September 1992 by Endate, K., Watanabe, K. at Kitami.
Named in honor of Kuniko Fujita (1923-1992), née Sofue, amateur astronomer and poet. She became interested in astronomy at an early age and made an important discovery---a nova, later named CP Pup---when she was a 19-year-old schoolgirl; she was awarded a prize from the Japan Astronomical Society as the first discoverer. She became a member of the Kawasaki Astronomical Club in 1972, and she visited Australia and New Zealand in 1986 to observe comet 1P/Halley. She joined expeditions to the Okinawa annular eclipse in 1986 and to the total eclipse in Mexico in 1991. A talented poet and calligrapher, she published a book of poetry, Hoshinagisa. Named by the discoverer following suggestions by S. Morikubo and T. Minowa.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kuniko is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kuniko is 2.21 au from the Sun and 2.23 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7189 |
| Provisional designation | 1992 SX12 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.00 km (#12,742 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.366 |
| Rotation period | 2.92 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.86 |
| Orbital period | 3.34 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.23 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.89 – 2.57 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.153 |
| Inclination | 3.52° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.889 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 28 September 1992
- (5834) Kasai
- (7828) Noriyositosi
- (7950) Berezov
- (8181) Rossini
- (8527) Katayama
- (13562) Bobeggleton
- (22346) Katsumatatakashi