(6229) Tursachan Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 4 November 1983 by B. A. Skiff at Anderson Mesa.

The name is “Standing Stones” in Gaelic, a term used to refer to the stones placed during neolithic times into groups---often circles---throughout the British Isles. Many of these arrangements exhibit astronomical alignments and may have been used to track the progression of seasons and mark the occurrence of other significant astronomical events. The name was suggested by Alice Cathryne Dennis, a seventh-grade student at The Mountain School in Flagstaff, Arizona, as winner of a contest to name this minor planet in conjunction with the 1997 Flagstaff Festival of Science. Citation prepared by C. B. Luginbuhl.Naming citation (19980211/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Tursachan is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tursachan is 2.55 au from the Sun and 1.60 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	6229
Provisional designation	1983 VN7
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	11.6 km (#4,262 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0760
Rotation period	16.6 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.43
Orbital period	5.43 years
Semi-major axis	3.09 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.54 – 3.64 au
Eccentricity	0.178
Inclination	1.65°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.54 au

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

Also discovered on 4 November 1983

More named asteroids discovered by B. A. Skiff

All 48

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