(7740) Petit Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 September 1983 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Named in honor of the French astronomer Jean-Marc Petit (b. 1961) for his work on the dynamics of planetary rings. Petit has also investigated the collisional evolution of the minor planet belt and the dynamical evolution of the (243) Ida-Dactyl system. Name suggested and citation provided by A. Morbidelli.Naming citation (19990728/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Petit is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Petit is 2.16 au from the Sun and 2.86 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7740 |
| Provisional designation | 1983 RR2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.12 km (#10,400 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.388 |
| Rotation period | 6.90 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.49 |
| Orbital period | 3.65 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.37 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.10 – 2.64 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.116 |
| Inclination | 7.21° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.09 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Marc
- (7048) Chaussidon
- (7553) Buie
- (10050) Rayman
- (10994) Fouchard
- (13059) Ducuroir
- (13249) Marcallen
- (13352) Gyssens
- (14094) Garneau
- (16121) Burrell
- (20036) Marcboucher
- (22633) Fazio
- (28621) Marcfries
All asteroids named after someone called Marc
Also discovered on 6 September 1983
More named asteroids discovered by E. Bowell
- (2246) Bowell
- (2264) Sabrina
- (2270) Yazhi
- (2316) Jo-Ann
- (2356) Hirons
- (2357) Phereclos
- (2383) Bradley
- (2409) Chapman
- (2410) Morrison
- (2411) Zellner
- (2421) Nininger
- (2432) Soomana
← (7739) Cech · (7741) Fedoseev →