(2224) Tucson Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Named for the city in Arizona. Prominent astronomical institutions in Tucson are the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and Steward Observatory. Name proposed by E. Bowell.Naming citation (MPC 5524), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Tucson is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tucson is 2.94 au from the Sun and 3.89 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 2224 |
| Provisional designation | 2528 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 22.7 km (#1,884 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.124 |
| Rotation period | 27.0 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.0 |
| Orbital period | 4.89 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.88 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.75 – 3.01 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0452 |
| Inclination | 2.66° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.74 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 24 September 1960
- (1743) Schmidt
- (1744) Harriet
- (1776) Kuiper
- (1777) Gehrels
- (1795) Woltjer
- (1808) Bellerophon
- (1809) Prometheus
- (1810) Epimetheus
- (1811) Bruwer
- (1812) Gilgamesh
- (1846) Bengt
- (1868) Thersites