(7254) Kuratani Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 15 October 1993 by Endate, K., Watanabe, K. at Kitami.

Named in honor of Hiroshi Kuratani (b. 1934), astronomer and educator at Toyama Observatory since 1956. He played an important role in establishing Toyama Science Museum, which opened in 1979 and from which he retired in 1998. In the 1960s he was a pioneer in improving observational techniques, such as the application of TV and development of cooled emulsion cameras. Currently he is developing a new generation space simulator. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by T. Sato and A. Fujii.Naming citation (19981208/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Kuratani is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kuratani is 2.60 au from the Sun and 3.48 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	7254
Provisional designation	1993 TN1
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	3.30 km (#14,483 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.282
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.83
Orbital period	3.17 years
Semi-major axis	2.16 au
Perihelion – aphelion	1.71 – 2.60 au
Eccentricity	0.206
Inclination	3.01°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.709 au

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

Also named after someone called Hiroshi

All asteroids named after someone called Hiroshi

Also discovered on 15 October 1993

More named asteroids discovered by Endate, K., Watanabe, K.

All 535

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