(7958) Leakey Inner Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 5 June 1994 by Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M. at Palomar.
Named for Mary Leakey (1913-1996), her husband Louis Leakey (1903-1972) and her son Richard Leakey (b. 1944), all major figures in the paleoanthropology of Africa. Mary and Louis worked together for 30 years and proved that human evolution was centered in Africa, rather than in Asia. Many of their most important discoveries were made at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. With his team in Kenya, Richard Leakey discovered that the Koobi Fora site contained one of the richest and most varied assemblages of early human remains anywhere in the world.Naming citation (19980411/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Leakey is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Leakey is 1.98 au from the Sun and 2.47 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7958 |
| Provisional designation | 1994 LE3 |
| Orbit class | Inner Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.94 km (#15,363 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.468 |
| Rotation period | 2.35 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.46 |
| Orbital period | 2.57 years |
| Semi-major axis | 1.88 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.73 – 2.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0768 |
| Inclination | 22.0° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.740 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Mary
- (4793) Slessor
- (5595) Roth
- (6603) Marycragg
- (7091) Maryfields
- (9824) Marylea
- (10870) Gwendolen
- (11369) Brazelton
- (12590) Ballantine
- (12627) Maryedwards
- (12628) Acworthorr
- (13412) Guerrieri
- (15107) Toepperwein
All asteroids named after someone called Mary