MP (21656) Knuth

Minor Planet (21656) Knuth

This minor planet was discovered by Petr Pravec and Peter Kusnirak using 0.65-m telescope (f/3.6) at Astronomical Institute in Ondrejov, Czech Republic, on August 9, 1999 in the eastern part of the constellation Aquarius (The Water Carrier) during the astrometric observations of another minor planet, (20256) Adolfneckar. Position of each minor planet is arrowed on the frames with east to the left and north to the up. It will be shown an animation after rolling the cursor over the image. Size of these frames is 19 x 12 arcmin.

August 8/9, 1999

Discovery images taken at 01:57 and 02:14 UT
with exposure of 180 s.

Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was:
23^h 43.3^m (R.A.) and -09° 24' (Decl.),
it shined at V=17.7 mag. August 10/11, 1999

Images taken at 00:25 and 00:47 UT
with exposures of 180 s.

Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was:
23^h 43.2^m (R.A.) and -09° 41' (Decl.),
it shined at V=17.7 mag.

There are also minor planets (23380) 3197 T-2 and 1997 EH₁₅ in this frame.

Aug 31/Sept 1, 1999

Images taken at 23:46 and 00:04 UT
with exposures of 150 s.

Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was:
23^h 35.9^m (R.A.) and -13° 12' (Decl.),
it shined at V=17.1 mag.

There is also minor planet 1999 QR₂ in this frame. January 14/15, 2001

Images taken at 01:14 and 01:26 UT
with exposures of 150 s.

Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was:
07^h 25.8^m (R.A.) and +17° 35' (Decl.),
it shined at V=18.8 mag in south-eastern part of constellation Gemini (The Twins).

Additional informations about MP:

This minor planet revolves the Sun at the mean distance of 2.71 AU (each 4.46 years) in slightly elongated and inclined orbit (excentricity of 0.2254 and inclination of 9.2 deg). Its last perihelion passage occured on Aug 6, 1999 (only 2 days before discovery) at distance of 2.099 AU, the next passage will occure in January 2004. (21656) Knuth is approximately 4-5 km in diameter (assuming mean reflectance by its surface).

(21656) Knuth = 1999 PX₁
Discovered 1999 Aug. 9 by P. Pravec and P. Ku\{s}nir\'ak at Ond\v{r}ejov.

Donald E. Knuth (b. 1938), professor of computer science at Stanford University, is author of {\it The Art of Computer Programming}, the fine typesetting system \TeX\ and the METAFONT system. \TeX\ has been used to produce a lot of the world's scientific literature in physics and mathematics, including the {\it Minor Planet Circulars}. [MPC 42679]

orbits of MPs from this page: (20256) Adolfneckar, (21656) Knuth, (23380) 3197 T-2, 1997 EH15 and 1999 QR2,
detailed informations about each minor planet: (20256) Adolfneckar, (21656) Knuth, (23380) 3197 T-2, 1997 EH15 and 1999 QR2 (only 13-days arc),
page of the Astronomical Institute of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Ondrejov,
observations running at 0.65-m telescope (was used for discovery of this minor planet),
list of all minor planets discovered at Ondrejov.

This page was prepared by Peter Kusnirak. May 2001


August 8/9, 1999 Discovery images taken at 01:57 and 02:14 UT with exposure of 180 s. Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was: 23^h 43.3^m (R.A.) and -09° 24' (Decl.), it shined at V=17.7 mag.	August 10/11, 1999 Images taken at 00:25 and 00:47 UT with exposures of 180 s. Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was: 23^h 43.2^m (R.A.) and -09° 41' (Decl.), it shined at V=17.7 mag. There are also minor planets (23380) 3197 T-2 and 1997 EH₁₅ in this frame.

Aug 31/Sept 1, 1999 Images taken at 23:46 and 00:04 UT with exposures of 150 s. Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was: 23^h 35.9^m (R.A.) and -13° 12' (Decl.), it shined at V=17.1 mag. There is also minor planet 1999 QR₂ in this frame.	January 14/15, 2001 Images taken at 01:14 and 01:26 UT with exposures of 150 s. Approx. position of MP (eq. J2000.0) was: 07^h 25.8^m (R.A.) and +17° 35' (Decl.), it shined at V=18.8 mag in south-eastern part of constellation Gemini (The Twins).