(7859) Lhasa Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 19 October 1979 by A. Mrkos at Klet.
Lhasa, “God's ground”, is the capital of Tibet, located on a fertile plain 3700 meters high, surrounded on all sides by hills. The main roads radiate from the great four-storey temple dating to the year 652. The name was suggested by J. Ticha and M. Tichy.Naming citation (20000523/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Lhasa is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Lhasa is 2.72 au from the Sun and 3.26 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7859 |
| Provisional designation | 1979 US |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 16.0 km (#2,893 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0330 |
| Rotation period | 10.2 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.6 |
| Orbital period | 4.60 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.76 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.39 – 3.13 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.134 |
| Inclination | 3.74° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.40 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 19 October 1979
More named asteroids discovered by A. Mrkos
- (2199) Klet
- (2304) Slavia
- (2325) Chernykh
- (2367) Praha
- (2403) Sumava
- (2404) Antarctica
- (2552) Remek
- (2559) Svoboda
- (2747) Cesky Krumlov
- (2811) Stremchovi
- (2889) Brno
- (2936) Nechvile
← (7858) Bolotov · (7860) Zahnle →