(8052) Novalis Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.

Friedrich Leopold Freiherr von Hardenberg, known under his pseudonym Novalis (1772-1801), is one of the greatest Romantic writers in German literature. The death of his fiancée and his pietistic thinking brought him to his romantic way of writing. In one of his novels he uses the image of a blue flower for the magical task poets have. Novalis had strong connections with the other Romantic writers of his time, such as Tieck and Schlegel.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Novalis is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Novalis is 3.06 au from the Sun and 4.04 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	8052
Provisional designation	2093 P-L
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	9.48 km (#5,430 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.124
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.03
Orbital period	5.28 years
Semi-major axis	3.03 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.88 – 3.19 au
Eccentricity	0.0509
Inclination	9.00°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.88 au

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

Also named after someone called Friedrich

All asteroids named after someone called Friedrich

Also discovered on 24 September 1960

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

All 958

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