(16481) Thames Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 August 1990 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
The Thames, with a length of nearly 350 km, is the chief river in southern England.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2017-03-12), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Thames is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Thames is 2.37 au from the Sun and 2.30 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 16481 |
| Provisional designation | 1990 QU7 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 12.7 km (#3,814 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0630 |
| Rotation period | 5.22 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.54 |
| Orbital period | 4.96 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.91 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.37 – 3.45 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.186 |
| Inclination | 2.39° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.38 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 16 August 1990
- (5184) Cavaille-Coll
- (6604) Ilias
- (7015) Schopenhauer
- (8496) Jandlsmith
- (8656) Cupressus
- (8657) Cedrus
- (9331) Fannyhensel
- (10310) Delacroix
- (10311) Fantin-Latour
- (12270) Bozar
- (13044) Wannes
- (13045) Vermandere
More named asteroids discovered by E. W. Elst
- (3631) Sigyn
- (3784) Chopin
- (3870) Mayre
- (3903) Kliment Ohridski
- (3910) Liszt
- (3912) Troja
- (3918) Brel
- (4038) Kristina
- (4226) Damiaan
- (4342) Freud
- (4344) Buxtehude
- (4345) Rachmaninoff
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