(20541) Matthewhopkins Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 7 September 1999 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Matthew Hopkins (b. 1999) is a British astronomer who received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 2025 for his thesis Interstellar Objects in a Galactic Context. This well-timed thesis, completed just before the arrival of 3I/ATLAS, predicts the properties of ISOs based on the history of star formation in the Milky Way.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #11, 25), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Matthewhopkins is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Matthewhopkins is 2.64 au from the Sun and 1.87 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 20541 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 RN93 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.12 |
| Orbital period | 4.41 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.69 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.64 – 2.74 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0198 |
| Inclination | 3.32° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.64 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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