(79912) Terrell Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 10 February 1999 by Cooney Jr., W. R., Kandler, E. at Baton Rouge.
Dirk Terrell (b. 1965) is a stellar astrophysicist, author and astronomical artist, specializing in eclipsing binary stars. He has authored numerous journal publications and a book and is well-known for his constant support and dedicated mentoring of amateur astronomers.Naming citation (20050919/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Terrell is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Terrell is 2.25 au from the Sun and 2.91 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 79912 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 CC3 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.34 km (#8,454 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0530 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.96 |
| Orbital period | 4.37 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.67 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.24 – 3.11 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.162 |
| Inclination | 10.7° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.23 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Dirk
All asteroids named after someone called Dirk
Also discovered on 10 February 1999
- (10939) Maheshwari
- (10942) Natashamaniar
- (11197) Beranek
- (11407) Madsubramanian
- (15083) Tianhuili
- (15088) Licitra
- (15492) Nyberg
- (16012) Jamierubin
- (16013) Schmidgall
- (16014) Sinha
- (16015) Snell
- (16016) Boylan