(40092) Memel Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 28 June 1998 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
The Memel River, whose Couronian-Latvian name means “silent”, dates back to the most recent glacial period. Rising near the city of Minsk, it is a major navigable river of Eastern Europe, flowing through Lithuania before empting into the Baltic Sea.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 4, #13, 5), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Memel is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Memel is 2.86 au from the Sun and 1.97 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 40092 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 ME47 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.20 km (#14,716 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.274 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.84 |
| Orbital period | 4.57 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.75 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.48 – 3.03 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0998 |
| Inclination | 7.84° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.47 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 28 June 1998
- (20394) Fatou
- (33319) Kunqu
- (52767) Ophelestes
- (58931) Palmys
- (100934) Marthanussbaum
- (100940) Maunder
- (134419) Hippothous