Discovered by Y. Väisälä MPC designation 1421 Esperanto Observation arc 109.40 yr (39957 days) Orbits Sun Named after Esperanto Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 18 March 1936 Minor planet category main-belt Discovered 18 March 1936 Discoverer Yrjö Väisälä Discovery site Iso-Heikkilä Observatory | |
Alternative names 1936 FQ · 1931 HC
1958 GD · A906 UD
A917 XD · A920 GD People also search for 1462 Zamenhof, 1454 Kalevala | ||
1421 Esperanto, provisional designation 1936 FQ, is an asteroid from the asteroid belt, about 43 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on March 18, 1936, by the Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Iso-Heikkilä Observatory in Turku, Finland. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.8–3.3 AU once every five and a half years. It rotational period has been measured to take almost 22 hours. It has a relatively low albedo of 0.07.
Yrjö Väisälä named the asteroid after the artificial language, Esperanto, which was created by inventor and writer, Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (1859–1917), who used the pseudonym "Doktoro Esperanto". The discoverer also named another asteroid, 1462 Zamenhof, directly after the inventor. Both asteroids are considered to be the most remote Zamenhof-Esperanto objects.