(10973) Thomasreiter Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
German test-pilot Thomas Reiter (b. 1958) was the first European astronaut to fly long-duration space missions onboard the Mir Space Station (1984-1985) and the International Space Station (2006). He is a strong advocate for human spaceflight, including that beyond low-earth orbit. The name was suggested by H. Graf.Naming citation (20080520/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Thomasreiter is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Thomasreiter is 2.17 au from the Sun and 2.35 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10973 |
| Provisional designation | 1210 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.43 km (#14,160 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.345 |
| Rotation period | 3.91 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.48 |
| Orbital period | 3.36 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.24 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.07 – 2.42 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0774 |
| Inclination | 3.55° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.06 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Thomas
- (4008) Corbin
- (4739) Tomahrens
- (4830) Thomascooley
- (4897) Tomhamilton
- (5548) Thosharriot
- (6019) Telford
- (6361) Koppel
- (8236) Gainsborough
- (8382) Mann
- (8793) Thomasmuller
- (9460) McGlynn
- (9536) Statler
All asteroids named after someone called Thomas
Also discovered on 29 September 1973
- (2049) Grietje
- (4357) Korinthos
- (4549) Burkhardt
- (4721) Atahualpa
- (4752) Myron
- (4876) Strabo
- (4978) Seitz
- (5151) Weerstra
- (5197) Rottmann
- (5243) Clasien
- (5244) Amphilochos
- (5266) Rauch