(8316) Wolkenstein Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 24 September 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.

Named for Oswald von Wolkenstein (?1377-1445), one of the last minstrels. We know much about his life and times from his own songs, which have been preserved. At the age of ten he became shield-bearer for a knight and traveled throughout the world as a groom, cook and singer, eventually returning to his home castle of Wolkenstein in the Grödner valley in Tirol. He was also ambassador to the emperor Sigismund and traveled to England and the Iberian peninsula in his name. Especially interesting are his financial documents, which have all been saved and show the difficult position of knights around 1400.Naming citation (19981005/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Wolkenstein is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Wolkenstein is 2.96 au from the Sun and 3.65 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	8316
Provisional designation	3002 P-L
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	15.9 km (#2,907 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.159
Rotation period	4.57 hours
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.04
Orbital period	5.18 years
Semi-major axis	2.99 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.61 – 3.37 au
Eccentricity	0.126
Inclination	9.55°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.62 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also named after someone called Oswald

All asteroids named after someone called Oswald

Also discovered on 24 September 1960

More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.

All 958

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