(9712) Nauplius Jupiter Trojan

Discovered on 19 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.

Nauplius, a son of Poseidon and Amymone, was king of Euboea and father of Palamedes. After a false accusation by Odysseus caused the death of Palamedes, Nauplius sailed to Troy to seek vengeance. But this was denied by Agamemnon, so Nauplius returned to Greece, together with his surviving son Oceax. However, Nauplius earned his revenge. He misled the Greeks returning from Troy by placing lights on the cliffs of his land, so that many ships ran aground.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

👶 Nauplius as a baby name

Where Nauplius is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Nauplius is 5.34 au from the Sun and 6.34 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	9712
Provisional designation	1973 SO1
Orbit class	Jupiter Trojan
Diameter	33.4 km (#1,213 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0830
Rotation period	19.4 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	10.99
Orbital period	11.9 years
Semi-major axis	5.22 au
Perihelion – aphelion	4.56 – 5.89 au
Eccentricity	0.127
Inclination	8.47°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	3.59 au

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

Also discovered on 19 September 1973

More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.

All 958

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