(444562) Visaginas Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 25 September 2006 by J. ZdanaviÄius K. Äernis at Moletai.
Visaginas is a town in northeastern Lithuania with 18,000 inhabitants. Historical annals first mention the location in 1526. The settlement was founded in 1975 as a town for workers at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant on the shores of Lake Visaginas. The power plant ceased operations in 2009 over safety concerns and is currently being decommissioned.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #16, 7), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Visaginas is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Visaginas is 3.25 au from the Sun and 4.18 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 444562 |
| Provisional designation | 2006 SP368 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.07 km (#15,034 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0430 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 16.9 |
| Orbital period | 4.54 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.74 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.17 – 3.31 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.207 |
| Inclination | 8.55° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.18 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 25 September 2006
- (161750) Garyladd
- (214678) Slavenas
- (248839) Mazeikiai
- (292343) Yasuosato
- (308934) Merkine
- (319601) Silute
- (353404) Laugalys
- (400072) Radviliskis