(19002) Tongkexue Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 September 2000 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Tong Ke Xue (b. 1985) was awarded fourth place in the 2003 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his computer science project. He attends the Hamilton High School, Chandler, Arizona, U.S.A.Naming citation (20040830/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Tongkexue is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tongkexue is 2.28 au from the Sun and 1.72 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 19002 |
| Provisional designation | 2000 RD61 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.94 km (#15,378 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.428 |
| Rotation period | 4.25 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.68 |
| Orbital period | 3.70 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.09 – 2.70 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.126 |
| Inclination | 7.40° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.10 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Tong
All asteroids named after someone called Tong
Also discovered on 1 September 2000
- (18979) Henryfong
- (18980) Johannatang
- (18983) Allentran
- (18987) Irani
- (18991) Tonivanov
- (18997) Mizrahi
- (19003) Erinfrey
- (19005) Teckman
- (19801) Karenlemmon
- (20774) Zender
- (20775) Zhaohaibin
- (20776) Juliekrugler