Discovered by Z. Moravec Minor planet category Main belt (IIa family) Aphelion 3.0444 AU (455.44 Gm) Orbits Sun Named after Jára Cimrman Asteroid group Asteroid belt | MPC designation 7796 Járacimrman Observation arc 9107 days (24.93 yr) Discovered 16 January 1996 Discoverer Zdeněk Moravec Discovery site Kleť Observatory | |
Alternative names 1996 BG · 1973 YE3
1990 VG Similar Solar System, Sun, Asteroid belt | ||
7796 Járacimrman ( [ˈjaːratsɪmr̩man]) is an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It belongs to the IIa family of asteroids. It cannot approach the Earth more closely than 197 million km.
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Discovery
The asteroid was discovered by Zdeněk Moravec at the Kleť Observatory (Czech Republic) on 16 January 1996 and was initially designated 1996 BG. Observations continued until April 1996 and then again between June and July 1997. The asteroid was later determined to be a lost asteroid which had previously been observed twice: at the Brera-Merate Observatory in northern Italy on 12 December 1973 and at Mount Stromlo Observatory (near Canberra, Australia) on 8 and 9 July 1990.
In 1997, the asteroid 7796 Járacimrman's orbit was calculated more precisely by additional observatories and thus it could be numbered as asteroid 7796. This is the 312th recognized (numbered) asteroid discovered at the Kleť Observatory, and Moravec suggested to name it after the fictional Czech genius Jára Cimrman.
The citation accompanying the suggestion said: "Named for Jára Cimrman, a fictitious Czech genius. An analogue to Leonardo da Vinci, he was a playwright, composer, poet, painter, versatile scientist, inventor, polar explorer, sportsman, first man on the moon, etc. Although his name is not mentioned in any encyclopedia, his work is explored at the Jára Cimrman Theatre in Prague. This theatre is headed by the famous cimrmanologists Z. Svěrák and L. Smoljak, who endorsed the name proposal."
The IAU Committee on Small Body Nomenclature approved this name in 1998.
Physical characteristics
On the basis of its absolute magnitude in the visible light spectrum and albedo the diameter of the asteroid 7796 Járacimrman is estimated to be 12.54 km. No spectral data is available for the asteroid, thus neither its chemical nor mineralogical composition is currently known.