Discovered by E. Bowell Alternative names 1986 GM Discovered 9 April 1986 Orbits Sun Discovery site Anderson Mesa Station MPC designation 6473 | Discovery date 9 April 1986 Observation arc 22248 days (60.91 yr) Absolute magnitude 13 Discoverer Edward L. G. Bowell Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Aphelion 3.0341069 AU (453.89593 Gm) Perihelion 2.3335011 AU (349.08680 Gm) | ||
6473 Winkler (1986 GM) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on April 9, 1986 by Edward Bowell at Anderson Mesa Station.
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. However, the US Naval Observatory reports it is named after Gernot M. R. Winkler, who worked there between 1966 and 1995 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."