(4550) Royclarke Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 April 1977 by S. J. Bus at Palomar.
Roy Clarke, Jr. (b. 1925) served as curator of the U.S. National Meteorite Collection at the Smithsonian Institution for nearly 30 years. Clarke's research interests have focused on the structures of iron meteorites and have included the classification and study of Antarctic iron meteorites.Naming citation (20001013/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Royclarke is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Royclarke is 3.32 au from the Sun and 4.31 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4550 |
| Provisional designation | 1977 HH1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 13.2 km (#3,634 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0760 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.9 |
| Orbital period | 5.48 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.11 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.42 – 3.80 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.222 |
| Inclination | 0.245° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.40 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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