(6844) Shpak Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 3 November 1975 by T. M. Smirnova at Nauchnyj.
Named in honor of Vladimir Stepanovich Shpak (b. 1909), distinguished technical organic chemist and director of the State Institute of Applied Chemistry in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) from 1953 to 1977. He was the initiator and organizer of fundamental, scientific and technical investigations of the main organic synthesis processes of new classes of chemical compounds. He has introduced new technologies into the chemical and petrochemical industries. At present he is the chairman of the Northwestern Scientific Board of the Russian Academy of Sciences on burning and the editor-in-chief of the journal Applied Chemistry.Naming citation (19990728/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Shpak is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Shpak is 2.41 au from the Sun and 3.40 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6844 |
| Provisional designation | 1975 VR5 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.25 km (#12,163 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.295 |
| Rotation period | 225 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.2 |
| Orbital period | 3.31 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.22 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.00 – 2.44 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.100 |
| Inclination | 5.31° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.02 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Vladimir
- (1783) Albitskij
- (3159) Prokof'ev
- (4870) Shcherban'
- (5955) Khromchenko
- (6167) Narmanskij
- (6622) Matvienko
- (6684) Volodshevchenko
- (6774) Vladheinrich
- (7153) Vladzakharov
- (7232) Nabokov
- (7373) Stashis
- (7741) Fedoseev
All asteroids named after someone called Vladimir