(2131) Mayall Inner Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 3 September 1975 by A. R. Klemola at Mount Hamilton.

Named in honor of Nicholas U. Mayall, director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory during 1960-1971. It was under his direction that the planning and construction of a major portion of the astronomical facilities at the Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo observatories were accomplished. He was on the Lick Observatory staff from 1945 to 1960. His major research contribution spans the domains of nebular spectroscopy, radial velocities of globular clusters and planetary nebulae, and the redshifts and internal motions of galaxies.Naming citation (MPC 5848), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Mayall is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Mayall is 1.94 au from the Sun and 2.71 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	2131
Provisional designation	1975 RA
Orbit class	Inner Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	8.25 km (#6,349 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.244
Rotation period	2.57 hours
Spectral type	S
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.8
Orbital period	2.59 years
Semi-major axis	1.89 au
Perihelion – aphelion	1.68 – 2.10 au
Eccentricity	0.111
Inclination	34.0°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.693 au

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

Also named after someone called Nicholas

All asteroids named after someone called Nicholas

Also discovered on 3 September 1975

(6890) Savinykh

More named asteroids discovered by A. R. Klemola

← (2130) Evdokiya · (2132) Zhukov →