(3995) Sakaino Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 5 December 1988 by T. Kojima at Chiyoda.

Named in honor of Teruo Sakaino (b. 1917), a glass and ceramics chemist, professor emeritus of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and of the Wuhan (China) University of Engineering, known for his research on amorphous materials. In particular, he developed quantitative methods for estimating the quality of optical glass. He is also an amateur astronomer and a former teacher of the discoverer at the T.I.T.Naming citation (19961026/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Sakaino is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Sakaino is 2.39 au from the Sun and 1.47 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	3995
Provisional designation	1988 XM
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	9.49 km (#5,424 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.311
Rotation period	4.55 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.18
Orbital period	4.28 years
Semi-major axis	2.64 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.39 – 2.88 au
Eccentricity	0.0936
Inclination	9.29°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.41 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also discovered on 5 December 1988

More named asteroids discovered by T. Kojima

All 26

← (3994) Ayashi · (3996) Fugaku →