(5292) Mackwell Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 12 January 1991 by Shiozawa, H., Kizawa, M. at Fujieda.
Stephen J. Mackwell (b. 1956) is the Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute. He is a valued steward of the science community, known for his studies of the deformation of rocks and minerals at high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, relevant to the lithospheres and interiors of the terrestrial planets.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2016-02-22), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Mackwell is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Mackwell is 2.17 au from the Sun and 1.36 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5292 |
| Provisional designation | 1991 AJ1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.44 km (#5,459 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.534 |
| Rotation period | 2.90 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.01 |
| Orbital period | 4.11 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.57 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.17 – 2.97 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.156 |
| Inclination | 15.5° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.22 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Stephen
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