(4716) Urey Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 October 1989 by S. J. Bus at Cerro Tololo.
Winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of deuterium, Harold Urey (1893-1981) was also one of the founders of planetary science as we know it today. His classic book The Planets (1952) discussed planetary objects and meteorites in the context of chemical and physical relationships.Naming citation (20001013/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Urey is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Urey is 3.37 au from the Sun and 4.16 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4716 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 UL5 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 15.4 km (#3,040 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.155 |
| Rotation period | 5.93 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.69 |
| Orbital period | 5.69 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.19 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.78 – 3.60 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.128 |
| Inclination | 10.1° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.82 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 30 October 1989
- (4290) Heisei
- (5479) Grahamryder
- (6306) Nishimura
- (9030) Othryoneus
- (10078) Stanthorpe
- (11282) Hanakusa
- (14380) Bussey