(8973) Pratincola Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Named for Glareola pratincola, or collared pratincole.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 2, #8, 8), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Pratincola is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Pratincola is 2.55 au from the Sun and 2.45 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8973 |
| Provisional designation | 3297 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.69 km (#11,256 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.106 |
| Rotation period | 5.85 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.38 |
| Orbital period | 3.70 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.00 – 2.78 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.163 |
| Inclination | 4.43° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.997 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 30 September 1973
- (4587) Rees
- (4848) Tutenchamun
- (5071) Schoenmaker
- (5196) Bustelli
- (5342) Le Poole
- (5885) Apeldoorn
- (6146) Adamkrafft
- (6258) Rodin
- (6259) Maillol
- (7265) Edithmuller
- (7316) Hajdu
- (8125) Tyndareus