(8423) Macao Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 11 January 1997 by Beijing Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program at Xinglong.
Named in honor of Macao, the beautiful peninsula near Zhuhai. An international tourist attraction as well as a free trading port, Macao is famous for its combination of Chinese and Western cultures.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Macao is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Macao is 3.91 au from the Sun and 4.87 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8423 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 AO22 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 10.6 km (#4,766 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0680 |
| Rotation period | 5.78 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.79 |
| Orbital period | 5.52 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.12 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.32 – 3.93 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.257 |
| Inclination | 2.39° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.33 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.