(5006) Teller Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 5 April 1989 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.

Named in honor of the distinguished Hungarian-born, U.S. physicist Edward Teller. Known for his seminal work in physics and astrophysics, notably on the Gamow-Teller relationship, he has also made significant contributions in chemical physics, molecular physics and quantum theory. He has been a professor of physics at George Washington University, the University of Chicago and the University of California. He inspired the creation of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and has served as its director. Senior research associate at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University, since 1975, he has been highly effective in promoting open international science free of secrecy. Having entered the world a few months before the Tunguska event, Teller was honored by the naming of this minor planet by his colleagues on his eighty-fourth birthday, 1992 Jan. 15, during his participation in a NASA Workshop on procedures for the interception of threatening near-Earth asteroids and comets.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #28, 5), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

🐶 Teller as a dog name

Where Teller is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Teller is 3.18 au from the Sun and 2.26 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	5006
Provisional designation	1989 GL5
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	12.9 km (#3,757 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.268
Rotation period	10.9 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.9
Orbital period	5.67 years
Semi-major axis	3.18 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.93 – 3.43 au
Eccentricity	0.0776
Inclination	7.65°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.95 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also discovered on 5 April 1989

More named asteroids discovered by E. F. Helin

All 267

← (5005) Kegler · (5007) Keay →