(15811) Nusslein-Volhard Outer Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 10 July 1994 by F. Borngen at Tautenburg.
German biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (b. 1942) intensely studied the development stages of the fly Drosophila melanogaster and shared the 1995 Nobel prize for medicine for her epoch-making discoveries of the fundamental genetic steering mechanisms of embryogeny.Naming citation (20020526/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Nusslein-Volhard is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Nusslein-Volhard is 3.70 au from the Sun and 4.33 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 15811 |
| Provisional designation | 1994 ND1 |
| Orbit class | Outer Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 15.5 km (#3,008 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0670 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.96 |
| Orbital period | 5.77 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.22 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.68 – 3.75 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.166 |
| Inclination | 9.54° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.69 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Christiane
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