6473 Winkler
| Discovery and designation | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Bowell |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa |
| Discovery date | April 9, 1986 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | 6473 |
| 1986 GM | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch May 14, 2008 | |
| Aphelion | 3.0289041 |
| Perihelion | 2.3419847 |
| Eccentricity | 0.1278968 |
| 1607.3952325 | |
| 23.09493 | |
| Inclination | 7.43474 |
| 204.30159 | |
| 327.58616 | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 12.9 | |
|
| |
6473 Winkler (1986 GM) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on April 9, 1986 by Edward L. G. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
According to Schmadel, it is named for Ron Winkler (1954-), a digital engineer at the Goldstone deep space communications complex operated by NASA, who is particularly noted for his work on radar observation of near-Earth asteroids.[1] However, the US Naval Observatory reports it is named after Gernot M. R. Winkler, who worked there between 1966 and 1995[2] and was awarded the 1988 I. I. Rabi Award for his "early development of worldwide clock synchronization through use of portable clocks; encouragement and support for the development of atomic frequency standards from their earliest days; and international leadership in the time and frequency community."
References
- ↑ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003): Dictionary of minor planet names, 5th Ed. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York ISBN 3-540-00238-3 Google Books preview, 19 December 2011
- ↑ "The USNO Asteroid Connection". The USNO Transit 1 (2). April–May 2009. Retrieved 2014-09-04.