Discovered by H. Debehogne MPC designation 4942 Munroe Discovered 24 February 1987 Discoverer Henri Debehogne Discovery site La Silla Observatory | Discovery date 24 February 1987 Observation arc 22177 days (60.72 yr) Orbits Sun Asteroid family Eunomia family Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
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Alternative names 1987 DU6; 1955 MS
1971 GE; 1990 CB Minor planet category main-belt
(Eunomia family) Similar Solar System, Asteroid belt, Sun, 85 Io | ||
4942 Munroe (1987 DU6) is a main-belt minor planet 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. The name was chosen by xkcd readers Lewis Hulbert and Jordan Zhu.
Munroe calculates that the asteroid is between 6 and 10 kilometers in diameter, comparable in size to the Chicxulub asteroid.
References
4942 Munroe Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA