(7688) Lothar Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Named in honor of Lothar Kurtze (b. 1972), German amateur astronomer at the Starkenburg Observatory, Heppenheim, and a cofounder of the minor planet astrometry group in 1995. Kurtze played a major role in both the planning and the construction of the student observatory at the Werner Heisenberg senior high school in Weinheim. His lectures on astronomical topics inspired many young students. Name proposed by L. D. Schmadel.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Lothar is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Lothar is 2.29 au from the Sun and 1.76 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7688 |
| Provisional designation | 2536 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.27 km (#12,110 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.168 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.24 |
| Orbital period | 3.45 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.28 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.93 – 2.63 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.154 |
| Inclination | 7.36° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.929 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 24 September 1960
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1846) Bengt
- (1868) Thersites