(6860) Sims Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 11 February 1991 by Otomo, S., Muramatsu, O. at Kiyosato.
Named in honor of Alan Sims (1920-1995), a naval officer who moved to Dublin in 1953 and became chairman of the Dublin Astronomy Association. On his retirement in 1983 he moved to Bath, where he took an active part in the William Herschel Society, serving first as secretary and later as vice chairman. He was also editor of the society's bulletin. Historians and librarians around the world corresponded with him, as he answered queries about the Herschels. Named by the discoverers following suggestions by F. Ring and S. Kimura.Naming citation (19960828/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Sims is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Sims is 3.49 au from the Sun and 2.99 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6860 |
| Provisional designation | 1991 CS1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 11.0 km (#4,575 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0840 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.47 |
| Orbital period | 5.50 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.12 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.74 – 3.50 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.122 |
| Inclination | 2.03° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.75 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Alan
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- (6227) Alanrubin
- (7160) Tokunaga
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- (9250) Chamberlin
- (9291) Alanburdick
- (10113) Alantitle
- (10204) Turing
- (10373) MacRobert
- (12431) Webster
- (13410) Arhale
All asteroids named after someone called Alan