(9702) Tomvandijk Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.

Thomas van Dijk (b. 1915), versatile Dutch amateur astronomer, specialized in spectroscopic, nuclear and photographic techniques. He wrote 45 papers, including one in Nature on lunar luminescence and one on radioactivity of a meteorite in the 1953 Liège Colloquium proceedings.Naming citation (20001111/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Tomvandijk is today

MercuryVenusEarthEarthMarsMarsTomvandijkTomvandijk

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tomvandijk is 2.11 au from the Sun and 1.50 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number9702
Provisional designation2108 T-2
Orbit classMain-belt Asteroid
Diameter2.67 km (#15,923 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo0.248
Absolute magnitude (H)15.13
Orbital period3.55 years
Semi-major axis2.33 au
Perihelion – aphelion2.08 – 2.57 au
Eccentricity0.105
Inclination3.04°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)1.07 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also named after someone called Thomas

All asteroids named after someone called Thomas

Also discovered on 29 September 1973

More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.

All 958

← (9701) Mak · (9703) Sussenbach →