(3973) Ogilvie Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 October 1981 by L. G. Taff at Socorro.
Professor of metallurgy at MIT and a researcher at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Robert E. Ogilvie (b. 1923) is known for his work in crystallography. Using homegrown woodruff, he also produces the essential ingredient for the annual May Wine Festival of the Harvard-Smithsonian Meteorite Discussion Group.Naming citation (20000523/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Ogilvie is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ogilvie is 2.82 au from the Sun and 3.57 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3973 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 UC1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.20 km (#8,633 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.251 |
| Rotation period | 21.2 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.22 |
| Orbital period | 3.63 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.36 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.87 – 2.85 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.207 |
| Inclination | 1.85° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.857 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 30 October 1981
More named asteroids discovered by L. G. Taff
← (3972) Richard · (3974) Verveer →