(6980) Kyusakamoto Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 September 1993 by Endate, K., Watanabe, K. at Kitami.
Named in memory of Kyu Sakamoto (1941-1985), a popular singer in Japan who was beloved as Kyu-chan. His songs “Let's walk turning our faces upward”, “Look up at the stars at night” and others were big hits. The first song (English title “Sukiyaki”) became one of the world's bestsellers. This planet also symbolizes the famous trio of which Kyu Sakamoto was a member, with songwriter Rokusuke Ei and pianist Hachidai Nakamura: in Japanese, Roku is 6, Kyu 9 and Hachi 8. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by T. Sato, A. Fujii and Y. Katagiri.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Kyusakamoto is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Kyusakamoto is 2.72 au from the Sun and 2.05 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6980 |
| Provisional designation | 1993 SV1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.79 km (#5,927 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.301 |
| Rotation period | 3.25 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.5 |
| Orbital period | 4.77 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.83 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.70 – 2.97 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0484 |
| Inclination | 3.29° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.68 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Kyu
All asteroids named after someone called Kyu
Also discovered on 16 September 1993
- (6923) Borzacchini
- (8040) Utsumikazuhiko
- (8194) Satake
- (10138) Ohtanihiroshi
- (10559) Yukihisa
- (10821) Kimuratakeshi
- (10822) Yasunori
- (10823) Sakaguchi
- (12357) Toyako
- (16644) Otemaedaigaku
- (19228) Uemuraikuo
- (27815) Katsuhito