(9962) Pfau Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 28 December 1991 by F. Borngen at Tautenburg.
Werner Pfau (b. 1936), director of the Jena University Observatory from 1990 to 2000 and a former chairman of the Astronomische Gesellschaft, is a well-known German expert on the physics of the interstellar medium and a promoter of the education of teachers of astronomy. The citation was provided by H. Zimmermann.Naming citation (20010109/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Pfau is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Pfau is 2.59 au from the Sun and 2.84 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9962 |
| Provisional designation | 1991 YL1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.06 km (#15,061 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.272 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.82 |
| Orbital period | 3.68 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.38 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.05 – 2.72 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.141 |
| Inclination | 0.791° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.06 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Werner
- (13149) Heisenberg
- (14965) Bonk
- (30850) Vonsiemens
- (32808) Bischoff
- (85511) Celnik
- (99861) Tscharnuter
- (389293) Hasubick
All asteroids named after someone called Werner
Also discovered on 28 December 1991
More named asteroids discovered by F. Borngen
- (3181) Ahnert
- (3245) Jensch
- (3338) Richter
- (3539) Weimar
- (3540) Protesilaos
- (3802) Dornburg
- (3808) Tempel
- (3826) Handel
- (3917) Franz Schubert
- (3941) Haydn
- (3943) Silbermann
- (3954) Mendelssohn
← (9960) Sekine · (9963) Sandage →