(9768) Stephenmaran Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 5 April 1992 by Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M. at Palomar.
Stephen P. Maran (b. 1938), long-time veteran of the space program, has made outstanding contributions to public understanding of astronomy as press officer for the American Astronomical Society. He has conducted professional research on many different telescopes and has lectured and written extensively on space discoveries.Naming citation (20000320/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Stephenmaran is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Stephenmaran is 2.20 au from the Sun and 2.95 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9768 |
| Provisional designation | 1992 GB1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.59 km (#11,448 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.163 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.69 |
| Orbital period | 3.78 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.43 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.91 – 2.94 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.213 |
| Inclination | 24.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.958 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Stephen
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- (5191) Paddack
- (5292) Mackwell
- (5657) Groombridge
- (7336) Saunders
- (7672) Hawking
- (8373) Stephengould
- (9891) Stephensmith
- (10287) Smale
- (10315) Brewster
- (12984) Lowry
- (16104) Stesullivan
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