(3713) Pieters Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 22 March 1985 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Named in honor of Carle M. Pieters, geologist on the faculty of Brown University, Providence. Pieters obtained the first compositionally diagnostic observations of an earth-approaching minor planet when she observed (433) Eros during its 1974–75 apparition. She has extensively studied the surface composition of geological units on the near side of the moon using ground-based reflectance spectroscopy combined with laboratory measurements of returned lunar samples. Pieters has also developed and applied remote sensing techniques for the study of the earth, Mars and Venus using airborne and spacecraft data. Name suggested and citation provided by L. A. McFadden.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 4, #9, 4), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Pieters is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Pieters is 3.31 au from the Sun and 4.12 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3713 |
| Provisional designation | 1985 FA2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 16.0 km (#2,887 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.189 |
| Rotation period | 6.90 hours |
| Spectral type | K |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.72 |
| Orbital period | 5.26 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.02 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.72 – 3.33 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0999 |
| Inclination | 11.4° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.72 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.