(5577) Priestley Inner Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 21 November 1986 by J. D. Waldron at Siding Spring.
Named for Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), an English clergyman who was the first to publish an account of his discovery in 1774 of the element oxygen. The number 5577, corresponding to the number of this minor planet, is also the wavelength in angstroms of the main emission line of green auroral light, due to triply-ionized oxygen.Naming citation (19990202/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Priestley is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Priestley is 1.78 au from the Sun and 1.05 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5577 |
| Provisional designation | 1986 WQ2 |
| Orbit class | Inner Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.99 km (#12,754 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.254 |
| Rotation period | 160 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.28 |
| Orbital period | 2.51 years |
| Semi-major axis | 1.84 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.76 – 1.93 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0446 |
| Inclination | 22.3° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.766 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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