(46719) Plantade Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 August 1997 by Pises at Pises.
Founder of the Royal Society of Sciences of Montpellier, François de Plantade (1670-1741) was involved in the use of the city's twelfth-century Babote Tower for astronomical purposes, specifically to observe the total solar eclipse on 1706 May 12. He died on the Pic du Midi while planning to map southern France.Naming citation (20050523/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Plantade is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Plantade is 3.04 au from the Sun and 3.06 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 46719 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 PJ |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.73 km (#9,343 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0450 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.13 |
| Orbital period | 4.54 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.74 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.41 – 3.07 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.121 |
| Inclination | 7.25° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.40 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.