(10137) Thucydides Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 15 August 1993 by E. W. Elst at Caussols.
Named for Thucydides (ca. 460-400 BC), the greatest of the ancient Greek historians, who wrote strictly contemporary history of events through which he lived. His best known work, History of the Peloponnesian War, recounted the fifth-century-BC struggle between Athens and Sparta. He was filled with a passion for truth, keeping him free from vulgar partiality against the enemy: “I have written not for immediate applause, but for posterity”.Naming citation (19990728/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Thucydides is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Thucydides is 2.95 au from the Sun and 3.87 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10137 |
| Provisional designation | 1993 PV6 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.29 km (#14,505 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.236 |
| Rotation period | 48.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.52 |
| Orbital period | 3.90 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.48 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.98 – 2.97 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.199 |
| Inclination | 3.77° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.983 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 15 August 1993
- (9377) Metz
- (9629) Servet
- (9630) Castellion
- (11309) Malus
- (11945) Amsterdam
- (11946) Bayle
- (11947) Kimclijsters
- (20060) Johannforster
- (100122) Alpes-Maritimes