(9972) Minoruoda Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 26 May 1993 by S. Otomo at Kiyosato.
Minoru Oda (1923-2001) was a cosmic-ray physicist, who started to work in x-ray astronomy when he was invited by Rossi to Massachusetts. He invented the “bamboo collimator” to determine more accurate positions of x-ray sources. He was director general of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science during 1984-1988.Naming citation (20031110/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Minoruoda is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Minoruoda is 2.56 au from the Sun and 2.36 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9972 |
| Provisional designation | 1993 KQ |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.85 km (#5,872 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0560 |
| Rotation period | 3.42 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.06 |
| Orbital period | 3.46 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.29 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.83 – 2.75 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.200 |
| Inclination | 9.43° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.839 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Minoru
All asteroids named after someone called Minoru