(21087) Petsimpallas Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 January 1992 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811) was a German naturalist who lived and worked in Russia for most of his life. In 1768 he was sent by Catherine the Great on a mission to explore several provinces in the European part of Russia and in Siberia. An iron meteorite found near Krasnoyarsk gave rise to the classification pallasites.Naming citation (20070402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Petsimpallas is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Petsimpallas is 2.89 au from the Sun and 2.79 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 21087 |
| Provisional designation | 1992 BH2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.45 km (#9,796 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.312 |
| Rotation period | 66.6 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.5 |
| Orbital period | 4.38 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.68 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.18 – 3.17 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.185 |
| Inclination | 11.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.19 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Peter
- (2382) Nonie
- (4314) Dervan
- (4507) Petercollins
- (5153) Gierasch
- (7527) Marples
- (7925) Shelus
- (8086) Peterthomas
- (8160) Petererwin
- (8280) Petergruber
- (8395) Rembaut
- (9207) Petersmith
- (9269) Peterolufemi
All asteroids named after someone called Peter
Also discovered on 30 January 1992
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- (7187) Isobe
- (7947) Toland
- (10101) Fourier
- (13975) Beatrixpotter
- (15752) Eluard
- (16563) Ob
- (16564) Coriolis
- (20024) Mayremartinez
- (21088) Chelyabinsk
- (29220) Xavierbaptista