(10204) Turing Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 August 1997 by P. G. Comba at Prescott.
Named in memory of Alan Mathison Turing (1912–1954), English mathematician and logician, a pioneer in the study of computability. In a fundamental paper published in 1936, he introduced the concept of an abstract computing machine and showed how such a machine can be programmed to simulate the behavior of any other computing device. This concept, now referred to as a “universal Turing machine”, was introduced years before the advent of programmable computers, and it was used to demonstrate the existence of noncomputable numbers and undecidable mathematical propositions.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 4, #8, 4), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Turing is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Turing is 2.61 au from the Sun and 1.77 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10204 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 PK1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.39 km (#11,851 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.276 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.07 |
| Orbital period | 4.69 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.80 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.58 – 3.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0789 |
| Inclination | 6.92° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.61 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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All asteroids named after someone called Alan