(21710) Nijhawan Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 7 September 1999 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Sonia Nijhawan (b. 1988) was awarded second place in the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her computer science project. She attends the duPont Manual Magnet High School, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.Naming citation (20050822/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Nijhawan is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Nijhawan is 2.83 au from the Sun and 2.81 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 21710 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 RS92 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.54 km (#8,199 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0540 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.8 |
| Orbital period | 4.64 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.78 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.59 – 2.97 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0671 |
| Inclination | 1.58° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.60 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Sonia
All asteroids named after someone called Sonia
Also discovered on 7 September 1999
- (12126) Chersidamas
- (12577) Samra
- (12578) Bensaur
- (12585) Katschwarz
- (12586) Juliaspeyer
- (12588) Arseneau
- (12604) Lisatate
- (12924) Madisonicole
- (13818) Ullery
- (14214) Hirsch
- (15503) Estradioto
- (16067) Brandonfan