(229280) Sica Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 January 2005 by P. A. Wiegert at Mauna Kea.
Robert Joseph Sica (b.1956) is an American-Canadian atmospheric physicist who earned his PhD at the University of Alaska in 1985, on the atmospheric coupling between the aurora and winds in the upper atmosphere. He was Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada from 2015 to 2022.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 2, #9, 9), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Sica is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Sica is 3.22 au from the Sun and 4.19 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 229280 |
| Provisional designation | 2005 BN47 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 16.41 |
| Orbital period | 5.18 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.99 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.69 – 3.30 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.103 |
| Inclination | 1.08° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.69 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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