(6871) Verlaine Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 23 January 1993 by E. W. Elst at La Silla.
Named in memory of the well-known French poet-symbolist Paul Verlaine (1844–1896). He was born in the grey and rainy Ardennes, a landscape that would never be far from his sad life. In his early work he declared himself as doomed, a “poète maudit”, torn between a mystic search for pureness and demonic sensuality. Alcohol ruined his health and mind, during a libertine and bohemian existence with his friend, the poet Arthur Rimbaud. Verlaine will be remembered for his splendid verse: “Il pleure dans mon cœur/ Comme il pleut sur la ville./ Quelle est cette langueur/ Qui pénètre mon cœur?”. Citation written by C. Leterme at the request of the discoverer.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 6, #1, 4), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Verlaine is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Verlaine is 2.27 au from the Sun and 2.98 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 6871 |
| Provisional designation | 1993 BE8 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.71 km (#15,825 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.289 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.89 |
| Orbital period | 3.25 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.20 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.09 – 2.30 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0474 |
| Inclination | 3.78° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.10 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 23 January 1993
- (6026) Xenophanes
- (7430) Kogure
- (9615) Hemerijckx
- (11928) Akimotohiro
- (11929) Uchino
- (13097) Lamoraal
- (17520) Hisayukiyoshio
- (23524) Yuichitsuda
- (27789) Astrakhan
- (58221) Boston