4942 Munroe

4942 Munroe
Discovery
Discovered by H. Debehogne
Discovery date Feb 24 1987
Designations
Named after
 Randall Munroe
(4942) 1987 DU6
Main belt (Eunomia family)
Orbital characteristics
1192.88 d (3.27 a)
Physical characteristics
Dimensions ~6–10 km
13.4

    4942 Munroe is a main-belt minor planet[1] discovered by Henri Debehogne at La Silla Observatory in Chile on February 24, 1987.

    In 2013, it was named after Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist and the author of the xkcd webcomic.[1] The name was chosen by xkcd readers Lewis Hulbert and Jordan Zhu.[2]

    Munroe calculates that the asteroid is between 6 and 10 kilometers in diameter, comparable in size to the Chicxulub asteroid.[3]

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Richardson, Chris (October 2, 2013). "xkcd Author Gets Asteroid Named After Him". iEntry Network. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
    2. ↑ Lecher, Colin (October 2, 2013). "Aw, They Named An Asteroid After The Creator Of XKCD". nextmedia Pty Ltd. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
    3. ↑ Munroe, Randall (September 30, 2013). "Asteroid 4942 Munroe". xkcd. Retrieved July 7, 2014.

    External links