(5311) Rutherford Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 3 April 1981 by Gilmore, A. C., Kilmartin, P. M. at Lake Tekapo.
Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937), born and educated in New Zealand, won the 1908 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on radioactive disintegration of elements. He was the first to develop radioactive dating of the Earth, established the nuclear atom, and predicted the existence of the neutron.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 1, #1, 9), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
👶 Rutherford as a baby name🐶 Rutherford as a dog name
Where Rutherford is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Rutherford is 3.13 au from the Sun and 2.13 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5311 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 GD1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 9.35 km (#5,518 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0730 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.92 |
| Orbital period | 5.30 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.04 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.76 – 3.32 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0924 |
| Inclination | 3.46° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.78 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Ernest
- (4643) Cisneros
- (6127) Hetherington
- (7349) Ernestmaes
- (12878) Erneschiller
- (14339) Knorre
- (97631) Kentrobinson
- (157271) Gurtovenko
- (289586) Shackleton
All asteroids named after someone called Ernest
More named asteroids discovered by Gilmore, A. C., Kilmartin, P. M.
- (2434) Bateson
- (3087) Beatrice Tinsley
- (3152) Jones
- (3305) Ceadams
- (3400) Aotearoa
- (3521) Comrie
- (3563) Canterbury
- (3810) Aoraki
- (4154) Rumsey
- (4243) Nankivell
- (4248) Ranald
- (4409) Kissling
← (5310) Papike · (5312) Schott →