(6664) Tennyo Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 14 February 1993 by T. Kobayashi at Oizumi.
A maiden who dances in the heavens scattering flowers, playing music and perfuming the atmosphere, this angelic figure can be seen in Buddhist sculptures and paintings traditionally found all over Japan. During astronaut Chiaki Mukai's first space shuttle flight, she communicated by radio with junior high school students in Tatebayashi. In the radio exchange, one of the students asked how it felt to be in space. She answered, “It feels like I have become a ‘tennyo’ and am flying.” The word became famous all over Japan as another name for Mukai. This naming was also a winning entry in the Exploratorium “star” naming competition.Naming citation (19990202/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Tennyo is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tennyo is 2.24 au from the Sun and 3.18 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6664 |
| Provisional designation | 1993 CK |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.16 km (#12,369 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.309 |
| Rotation period | 3.20 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.07 |
| Orbital period | 3.67 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.38 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.20 – 2.56 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0768 |
| Inclination | 4.85° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.20 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.