(26993) Littlewood Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 3 December 1997 by P. G. Comba at Prescott.
John Edensor Littlewood (1885-1977) was an English mathematician mainly associated with Trinity College, Cambridge. Most of his work in analysis was done in collaboration with G. H. Hardy and extended over Diophantine approximations, number theory, the Riemann zeta function, inequalities and Fourier series.Naming citation (20020128/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Littlewood is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Littlewood is 3.15 au from the Sun and 3.61 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 26993 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 XC1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.01 km (#12,721 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.213 |
| Rotation period | 5.89 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.47 |
| Orbital period | 5.14 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.98 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.75 – 3.21 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0782 |
| Inclination | 2.29° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.76 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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