(9879) Mammuthus Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 12 August 1994 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Mammuthus or woolly mammoth was a kind of elephant, about 4 meters tall, with dense dark hair and an 8-cm-thick layer of fat, protecting the animal from the cold. Feeding itself with Tundra grasses, it was hunted by Paleolithic man.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #15, 5), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Mammuthus is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Mammuthus is 2.59 au from the Sun and 3.56 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9879 |
| Provisional designation | 1994 PZ29 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.71 km (#11,206 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0870 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.31 |
| Orbital period | 3.67 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.38 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.79 – 2.98 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.250 |
| Inclination | 3.70° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.781 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 12 August 1994
- (7142) Spinoza
- (8550) Hesiodos
- (9640) Lippens
- (9641) Demaziere
- (9778) Isabelallende
- (9880) Stegosaurus
- (10151) Rubens
- (10361) Bunsen
- (10841) Ericforbes
- (11095) Havana
- (11583) Breuer
- (11965) Catullus