(12774) Pfund Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 12 August 1994 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
August Hermann Pfund (1879-1949) was a American physicist and professor of optics at Baltimore University. He predicted correctly the very far infrared spectrum of the hydrogen atom (the Pfund series).Naming citation (20041126/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Pfund is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Pfund is 2.35 au from the Sun and 2.50 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12774 |
| Provisional designation | 1994 PH22 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.42 km (#9,850 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0500 |
| Rotation period | 7.34 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.41 |
| Orbital period | 4.44 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.70 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.16 – 3.24 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.202 |
| Inclination | 2.44° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.17 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 12 August 1994
- (7142) Spinoza
- (8550) Hesiodos
- (9640) Lippens
- (9641) Demaziere
- (9778) Isabelallende
- (9879) Mammuthus
- (9880) Stegosaurus
- (10151) Rubens
- (10361) Bunsen
- (10841) Ericforbes
- (11095) Havana
- (11583) Breuer