(14990) Zermelo Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 31 October 1997 by P. G. Comba at Prescott.
Ernst F. F. Zermelo (1871-1953), German mathematician, was mainly interested in the calculus of variations. He is best remembered for his formulation of the axiom of choice: given any (possibly infinite) collection of non-empty sets, there exists a set having one element in common with each set in the collection.Naming citation (20000726/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Zermelo is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Zermelo is 3.18 au from the Sun and 3.50 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 14990 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 UY10 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.61 km (#9,565 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.186 |
| Rotation period | 4.81 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.0 |
| Orbital period | 5.14 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.98 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.76 – 3.19 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0729 |
| Inclination | 1.53° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.78 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Ernst
- (3949) Mach
- (5053) Chladni
- (11042) Ernstweber
- (11043) Pepping
- (12323) Haeckel
- (13086) Sauerbruch
- (16441) Kirchner
- (16714) Arndt
- (20016) Rietschel
- (25628) Kummer
- (112328) Klinkerfues
- (173002) Dorfi
All asteroids named after someone called Ernst