(5434) Tomwhitney Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 6 March 1989 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.
Thomas (Tom) D. Whitney (b. 1941) served as president of the Amherst Area Amateur Astronomers Association for more than two decades. He ran weekly daytime solar and nighttime observing sessions, along with planetarium shows and introductory astronomy classes, acquainting the public with the wonders of the heavens.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2014-09-09), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Tomwhitney is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tomwhitney is 3.27 au from the Sun and 2.29 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5434 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 ES |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 17.2 km (#2,626 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0780 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.45 |
| Orbital period | 5.68 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.18 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.91 – 3.46 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0870 |
| Inclination | 17.1° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.94 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 6 March 1989
More named asteroids discovered by E. F. Helin
- (1982) Cline
- (2048) Dwornik
- (2050) Francis
- (2062) Aten
- (2074) Shoemaker
- (2083) Smither
- (2099) Opik
- (2100) Ra-Shalom
- (2128) Wetherill
- (2143) Jimarnold
- (2220) Hicks
- (2335) James
← (5433) Kairen · (5435) Kameoka →