(17920) Zarnecki Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 10 April 1999 by LONEOS at Anderson Mesa.
John C. Zarnecki (b. 1949), of the Open University, Milton Keynes, has developed spacecraft instrumentation to study the surfaces and atmospheres of planets, satellites and small bodies. He is a PI for the Huygens probe/lander on the Cassini mission to Saturn and Saturn VI (Titan).Naming citation (20050721/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Zarnecki is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Zarnecki is 2.58 au from the Sun and 2.01 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 17920 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 GE9 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.18 km (#16,804 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.282 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.16 |
| Orbital period | 3.63 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.36 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.14 – 2.58 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0946 |
| Inclination | 6.40° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.13 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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