(172850) Coppens

Asteroid (172850) Coppens
Properties of the orbit ( animation ) Epoch: May 31, 2020 ( JD 2,459,000.5)
Orbit type	Middle main belt asteroid
Major semi-axis	2.8154 AU
eccentricity	0.0540
Perihelion - aphelion	2.6633 AU - 2.9676 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane	1.7845 °
Length of the ascending node	23.3376 °
Argument of the periapsis	63.3658 °
Time of passage of the perihelion	April 1, 2018
Sidereal period	4.86 a
Mean orbital velocity	17.74 km / s
Physical Properties
Absolute brightness	16.6 mag
history
Explorer	Jean-Claude Merlin
Date of discovery	March 3, 2005
Another name	2005 EU ₂₇ , 2003 YO ₁₇₃
Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . The affiliation to an asteroid family is automatically determined from the AstDyS-2 database . Please also note the note on asteroid items.

(172850) Coppens is an asteroid located in the central main belt . It was discovered on March 3, 2005 by the French computer scientist and amateur astronomer Jean-Claude Merlin at the fully automatic Ritchey-Chrétien 81 cm telescope at the Tenagra II Observatory in Nogales , Arizona ( IAU code 926). The telescope was able to head for Merlin from France when it was discovered. There had been several sightings of the asteroid before, for example on December 19 and 29, 2003 under the provisional designation 2003 YO ₁₇₃ at the outstation of the Steward Observatory located on Kitt Peak as part of the Spacewatch project.

The asteroid was named on March 21, 2008 after the French paleoanthropologist Yves Coppens (* 1934). Together with Donald Johanson and Tim White, Coppens was the first to describe Australopithecus afarensis , the best-known specimen of which is Lucy . Three months later, the asteroid (32605) Lucy discovered by William Kwong Yu Yeung in 2001 was named after Lucy , and the asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson, discovered in 1981 by Schelte John Bus , after Donald Johanson .

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