(12443) Paulsydney Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 15 March 1996 by AMOS at Haleakala.
With the gracious support of his family, Paul Sydney, a physicist on the AMOS team, has dedicated many long hours to demonstrating that U.S. Air Force assets could be applied successfully to following up minor planets. In return, the Air Force has benefited significantly from collaboration with the astronomical community.Naming citation (20000523/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Paulsydney is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Paulsydney is 2.87 au from the Sun and 2.48 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12443 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 EQ2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.94 km (#5,795 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.221 |
| Rotation period | 15.3 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.83 |
| Orbital period | 5.51 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.12 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.49 – 3.75 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.203 |
| Inclination | 17.5° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.50 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Paul
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- (4148) McCartney
- (4194) Sweitzer
- (5065) Johnstone
- (5553) Chodas
- (5997) Dirac
- (6226) Paulwarren
- (6384) Kervin
- (6629) Kurtz
- (6726) Suthers
- (6870) Pauldavies
- (7560) Spudis
All asteroids named after someone called Paul