(10439) van Schooten Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Frans van Schooten (c.1615–1660), at the University of Leiden, wrote Exercitationes mathematicae (1657) and Geometria a Renato Des Cartes (1659–1661). A promoter of cartesian geometry, he printed the first Latin version of Descartes' La Géométrie in 1649. The name was suggested by W. A. Fröger.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #14, 5), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where van Schooten is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: van Schooten is 3.31 au from the Sun and 3.59 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10439 |
| Provisional designation | 6676 P-L |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 8.07 km (#6,502 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0820 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.09 |
| Orbital period | 5.19 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.00 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.68 – 3.32 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.107 |
| Inclination | 1.11° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.69 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Frans
All asteroids named after someone called Frans
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