(10718) Samus' Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 23 August 1985 by N. S. Chernykh at Nauchnyj.
Nikolaj Nikolaevich Samusʹ (b. 1949) is a scientist in stellar astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow University. He is chief editor of the fourth and fifth volumes of the General Catalogue of Variable Stars. In recent years he has also worked on radial velocities of cepheids.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #10, 6), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Samus' is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Samus' is 2.83 au from the Sun and 2.17 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10718 |
| Provisional designation | 1985 QM5 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.91 km (#10,781 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.291 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.79 |
| Orbital period | 5.04 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.94 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.52 – 3.36 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.143 |
| Inclination | 2.56° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.51 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Nikolaj
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- (2342) Lebedev
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- (4654) Gor'kavyj
- (5075) Goryachev
- (5087) Emel'yanov
- (5158) Ogarev
- (6483) Nikolajvasil'ev
All asteroids named after someone called Nikolaj