25399 Vonnegut
Published on Apr 12, 2007 at 1:32 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under asteroids.
Apparently Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) passed away yesterday. Being an avid scifi reader, I’ve read some of his works (though he wrote far more than just scifi!). I could write about his work, but others are doing that, I am sure. So, I decided to say something that you might not know. There is an asteroid named for Kurt Vonnegut!
Discovered November 11, 1999, by C. W. Juels, this body was first given the provisional designation 1999 VN20. It was eventually given the permanent minor planet number of 25399 and the name Vonegut. The asteroid now named 25399 Vonnegut is a main belt asteroid, orbiting about 2.6 AU from the Sun (that means 2.6 times farther from the Sun than Earth orbits) and it takes about 4.15 years to complete one orbit. It has a somewhat elliptical orbit, ranging from about 2.35 AU out to about 2.81 AU. Right now, April 12, 2007, it is very near aphelion, the farthest that it gets from the Sun. The orbital diagram above shows the orbit of 25399 Vonnegut as seen from above. What it doesn’t show, though is just how inclined this body’s orbit is with respect to the orbits of the major planets. It is inclined nearly 22.5° from the ecliptic. That shows up better in the following orbital diagram, which is looking at the Solar System from the edge.
So, I guess that when I get time (like that will happen anytime soon!), I’ll have to reread one of his books.
-Astroprof
Orbital diagrams courtesy of JPL
A Ler…-- Rastos de Luz on April 13, 2007 at 1:19 pm: 1
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Eric Toupin on April 17, 2007 at 1:38 pm: 2
I was just trying to observe this comet with KStars (astro app) a few days ago, but it wasn’t listed. A bit dissapointing. Boo. I also mentioned it to a guy at Lowells Observatory who said that most asteroids named after people are tiny — too tiny to get clear images of them. Boo again.
bLAH bLAH on April 21, 2009 at 11:17 am: 3
This helped me out for my shool assignment on Kurt onnegut’s life… Thanks!!!