(12630) Verstappen Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 26 March 1971 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
René Verstappen (b. 1948) has been comptroller of the Dutch center for dissemination of information on astronomy, space science and meteorology for 36 years. He has done much for Dutch amateur astronomers. Name suggested by A. v. d. Brugge and H. van Woerden.Naming citation (20121228/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Verstappen is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Verstappen is 2.58 au from the Sun and 2.04 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12630 |
| Provisional designation | 3033 T-1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.35 km (#16,514 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.732 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.74 |
| Orbital period | 3.80 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.44 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.10 – 2.78 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.140 |
| Inclination | 6.36° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.09 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Rene
- (5077) Favaloro
- (7933) Magritte
- (8797) Duffard
- (10785) Dejaiffe
- (14533) Roy
- (15399) Hudec
- (25544) Renerogers
- (45580) Reneracine
- (59964) Pierremartin
- (162937) Pretre
- (172317) Walterbos
- (235990) Laennec
All asteroids named after someone called Rene
Also discovered on 26 March 1971
- (5195) Kaendler
- (5491) Kaulbach
- (5492) Thoma
- (5698) Nolde
- (6202) Georgemiley
- (6257) Thorvaldsen
- (6351) Neumann
- (6429) Brancusi
- (6674) Cezanne
- (6752) Ashley
- (7367) Giotto
- (7908) Zwingli