(5663) McKeegan Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 March 1981 by S. J. Bus at Siding Spring.
Kevin McKeegan (b. 1958), professor of geochemistry at the University of California in Los Angeles, has pioneered isotopic measurements with the ion microprobe and used the data to decipher the origins and histories of interplanetary dust particles, as well as refractory inclusions in chondrites.Naming citation (20020624/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where McKeegan is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: McKeegan is 1.81 au from the Sun and 1.88 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5663 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 EQ12 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.49 km (#9,728 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0930 |
| Rotation period | 4.77 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.96 |
| Orbital period | 3.69 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.74 – 3.03 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.270 |
| Inclination | 6.45° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.749 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Kevin
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- (7987) Walshkevin
- (11210) Kevinqian
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- (13721) Kevinwelsh
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- (16934) Kevinmeng
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- (18090) Kevinkuo
All asteroids named after someone called Kevin
Also discovered on 1 March 1981
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- (3016) Meuse
- (3029) Sanders
- (3030) Vehrenberg
- (3042) Zelinsky
- (3058) Delmary
- (3075) Bornmann
- (3135) Lauer
- (3308) Ferreri
- (3472) Upgren
- (3498) Belton
- (3503) Brandt