(10438) Ludolph Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Ludolph van Ceulen (1540-1610) was a German-Dutch mathematician who is famous for his calculation of π to 35 places. He did this using polygons of 262 sides. His result, 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288, known as the Ludolphine number, is engraved on his tombstone in Leiden.Naming citation (20010804/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Ludolph is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ludolph is 2.23 au from the Sun and 2.39 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10438 |
| Provisional designation | 6615 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.84 km (#13,123 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.228 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.61 |
| Orbital period | 3.34 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.23 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.03 – 2.44 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0928 |
| Inclination | 4.70° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.02 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