(31729) Scharmen Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 12 May 1999 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Chris Scharmen mentored a finalist in the 2015 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Kennedy Middle School, Cupertino, California.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2016-02-22), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Scharmen is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Scharmen is 3.08 au from the Sun and 3.98 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 31729 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 JO69 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.29 km (#6,315 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0460 |
| Rotation period | 19.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.36 |
| Orbital period | 4.69 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.80 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.49 – 3.11 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.110 |
| Inclination | 8.41° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.49 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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