(7781) Townsend Inner Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 19 August 1993 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.

Named in honor of Charles Townsend, a retired laser physicist and community-college instructor of astronomy and mathematics, and a former president of the Ventura County Astronomical Society and the Western Amateur Astronomers. He has co-authored two books, Patrolling Night Skies (1984) and Observational Astronomy (1989), the latter being used to teach an advanced astronomy course at Moorpark College. One of his students, John E. Rogers, is extremely grateful for Townsend's encouragement and leadership. This led to the existence of the Camarillo Observatory, which has contributed to the astrometry of near-Earth objects and comets generally since 1992.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #28, 6), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

👶 Townsend as a baby name

Where Townsend is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Townsend is 1.88 au from the Sun and 0.924 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	7781
Provisional designation	1993 QT
Orbit class	Inner Main-belt Asteroid
Rotation period	81.1 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	14.77
Orbital period	2.74 years
Semi-major axis	1.96 au
Perihelion – aphelion	1.82 – 2.09 au
Eccentricity	0.0699
Inclination	18.7°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.815 au

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

Also named after someone called Charles

All asteroids named after someone called Charles

Also discovered on 19 August 1993

(7026) Gabrielasilang

More named asteroids discovered by E. F. Helin

All 267

← (7780) Maren · (7782) Mony →