(8240) Matisse Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) studied at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. After traveling through Europe and the Pacific islands, he initially developed an Impressionistic style of painting. Later he became the leader of a new school, Fauvism, characterized by bold use of color and distorted forms.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

🐶 Matisse as a dog name 🐱 Matisse as a cat name

Where Matisse is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Matisse is 2.47 au from the Sun and 2.83 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	8240
Provisional designation	4172 T-2
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	4.20 km (#12,253 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.130
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.43
Orbital period	3.87 years
Semi-major axis	2.47 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.12 – 2.82 au
Eccentricity	0.142
Inclination	4.15°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.12 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also named after someone called Henri

All asteroids named after someone called Henri

Also discovered on 29 September 1973

More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.

All 958

← (8239) Signac · (8241) Agrius →