(1718) Namibia Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 14 September 1942 by M. Vaisala at Turku.
Named for the African country, where the discoverer worked for many years, teaching the children of Finnish missionaries.Naming citation (MPC 5281), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Namibia is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Namibia is 2.07 au from the Sun and 1.37 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 1718 |
| Provisional designation | 1942 RX |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.75 km (#5,251 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0740 |
| Rotation period | 8.60 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.79 |
| Orbital period | 3.64 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.37 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.71 – 3.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.277 |
| Inclination | 7.70° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.711 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 14 September 1942
More named asteroids discovered by M. Vaisala
← (1717) Arlon · (1719) Jens →