(3420) Standish Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 March 1984 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Named in honor of E. Myles Standish, Jr., celestial mechanician at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has continually improved the accuracy of the planetary ephemerides by making use of diverse types of data, including optical astrometry, planetary ring occultations, radio interferometry, planetary radar and spacecraft tracking data. His efforts have been important in making the JPL planetary ephemeris an international standard. Name proposed by the discoverer following a suggestion by D. K. Yeomans, who provided the citation.Naming citation (MPC12016), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Standish is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Standish is 3.11 au from the Sun and 2.58 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3420 |
| Provisional designation | 1984 EB |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 18.7 km (#2,388 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0880 |
| Rotation period | 10.4 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.17 |
| Orbital period | 5.46 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.10 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.85 – 3.36 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0818 |
| Inclination | 14.3° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.86 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 1 March 1984
- (3066) McFadden
- (3931) Batten
- (4529) Webern
- (4530) Smoluchowski
- (4818) Elgar
- (5502) Brashear
- (5943) Lovi
- (9544) Scottbirney
- (90698) Kosciuszko