(6659) Pietsch Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 December 1992 by T. Urata at Oohira.
Wolfgang Pietsch (b. 1948), at the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, started his career in the Astronomisches Institut Tübingen/MPE hard-x-ray group, building and analyzing balloon and space-based experiments that led to the detection of the cyclotron line in Her X-1 and hard x-ray emission from SN 1987A.Naming citation (20081113/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Pietsch is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Pietsch is 2.54 au from the Sun and 3.52 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6659 |
| Provisional designation | 1992 YN |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.53 km (#9,664 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.366 |
| Rotation period | 13.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.45 |
| Orbital period | 3.65 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.37 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.11 – 2.63 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.108 |
| Inclination | 5.21° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.13 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Wolfgang
- (7686) Wolfernst
- (7971) Meckbach
- (9700) Paech
- (13055) Kreppein
- (13093) Wolfgangpauli
- (14994) Uppenkamp
- (17458) Dick
- (17488) Mantl
- (21420) Steinicke
- (26661) Kempelen
- (29148) Palzer
- (30829) Wolfwacker
All asteroids named after someone called Wolfgang