(12540) Picander Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 26 July 1998 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Picander, pseudonym of Christian Friedrich Henrici (1700-1764), was one of Bach's most important librettists. He wrote the texts for several secular cantatas (“Coffee cantatas”), but also for Bach's most magnificent oratorio, St. Matthew Passion.Naming citation (20040713/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Picander is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Picander is 2.92 au from the Sun and 3.87 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12540 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 OU9 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.25 km (#7,378 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.233 |
| Rotation period | 3.55 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.24 |
| Orbital period | 4.93 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.90 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.85 – 2.94 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0153 |
| Inclination | 0.897° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.87 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Christian
- (3788) Steyaert
- (3905) Doppler
- (7393) Luginbuhl
- (14613) Sanchez
- (15963) Koeberl
- (16984) Veillet
- (19992) Schonbein
- (22848) Chrisharriot
- (39814) Christianlegrand
- (42613) Schaller
- (55772) Loder
- (62071) Voegtli
All asteroids named after someone called Christian
Also discovered on 26 July 1998
- (9470) Jussieu
- (9471) Ostend
- (9472) Bruges
- (9473) Ghent
- (12873) Clausewitz
- (13253) Stejneger
- (13254) Kekule
- (13256) Marne
- (13703) Romero
- (20404) Javiersuarez
- (22645) Rotblat
- (22647) Levi-Strauss