(20638) Lingchen Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 4 October 1999 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Ling Chen (b. 1986) was awarded second place in the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his botany project. He attends the JinCai Senior High School, Shanghai, China.Naming citation (20041226/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Lingchen is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Lingchen is 2.57 au from the Sun and 1.67 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 20638 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 TV108 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.08 km (#6,495 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0820 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.12 |
| Orbital period | 4.51 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.73 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.56 – 2.91 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0639 |
| Inclination | 4.16° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.55 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Ling
All asteroids named after someone called Ling
Also discovered on 4 October 1999
- (13407) Ikukomakino
- (15093) Lestermackey
- (15509) Annejing
- (15510) Phoeberounds
- (16088) Jessgoldstein
- (17179) Codina
- (20626) Rider-Stokes
- (20639) Michellouie
- (20641) Yenuanchen
- (20642) Laurajohnson
- (21804) Vaclavneumann
- (21815) Fanyang