(20647) Ryujiokazaki Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 7 October 1999 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Ryuji Okazaki (b. 1971) is a Japanese noble gas cosmochemist who contributed to instrument development, curation, and analysis for JAXA’s Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions. He led the development of the air-tight Hayabusa2 sample container, which preserved solar-wind helium from asteroid Ryugu, and led studies of volatiles in the returned samples.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #11, 32), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Ryujiokazaki is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ryujiokazaki is 3.02 au from the Sun and 2.06 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 20647 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 TQ155 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.11 km (#10,425 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.224 |
| Rotation period | 36.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.82 |
| Orbital period | 4.50 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.73 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.43 – 3.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.109 |
| Inclination | 11.7° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.43 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Ryuji
All asteroids named after someone called Ryuji
Also discovered on 7 October 1999
- (12931) Mario
- (16089) Lamb
- (16090) Lukaszewski
- (16091) Malchiodi
- (19704) Medlock
- (20643) Angelicaliu
- (20644) Amritdas
- (20645) Ryderstrauss
- (20646) Nikhilgupta
- (21850) Abshir
- (21852) Bolander
- (21853) Kelseykay