(6370) Malpais Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 9 March 1984 by B. A. Skiff at Anderson Mesa.
Spanish for “bad country,” early explorers of the American Southwest described as Malpais a countryside strewn with rough lava flows or rocks that was difficult to traverse. The name was suggested by Van Francis Campbell, winner of a contest to name this minor planet in conjunction with the 1999 Flagstaff Festival of Science.Naming citation (20010109/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Malpais is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Malpais is 2.53 au from the Sun and 2.03 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6370 |
| Provisional designation | 1984 EY |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.76 km (#11,088 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.373 |
| Rotation period | 5.02 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.4 |
| Orbital period | 3.64 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.37 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.19 – 2.54 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0748 |
| Inclination | 7.02° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.18 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.