(6433) Enya
Minor planet number 6433 has been named in honor ofthe Irish singer/song-writer Enya.The citation announcing the naming appeared onMinor Planet Circular30099(issued on 1997 June 20), from which the following is extracted withpermission:
(6433) Enya = 1978 WC Discovered 1978 Nov. 18 by A. Mrkos at Klet. Named in honor of the Irish singer and songwriter Eithne Ní Bhraonáin (b. 1961, professional name Enya). Name suggested by G. V. Williams, who made the identifications involving this object.Read abouthow minor planets are named.
About (6433) Enya
(6433) Enya is in a 3.69-year elliptical orbit around the sun ranging in distancefrom279.5 million km (at perihelion, closest point to the sun) to434.9 million km (at aphelion, furthest point from the sun).The next perihelion passage will occuron 2015 Sept. 17.6 UT.
The orbit is inclined by 8.6 degrees to the ecliptic plane (the planeof the earth's orbit about the sun).
There is little information on thephysical properties of(6433) Enya. Even its diameter is uncertain--arange of 4 to 9 km is probable.
You will need a telescope tosee this minor planet as its maximum brightness is some1/4572of the brightness of the faintest objects that can be seen with the unaidedeye.
The diagram below show the orbit of (6433) Enyain relation to the major planets in the inner solar system.
This view of the inner solar system is seen from the north ecliptic pole.The sun is the yellow star at the center of the image. The blue orbitsrepresent, in increasing distance from the center, the major planetsMercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. The position of each major planetat the date indicated at the bottom of the plot is shown by the largecircled cross. The orbit of the minor planet is shown in red, with thelocation of the minor planet (at the date indicated at the bottom of theplot) shown as a white circled cross. From this vantage point theplanets revolve around the sun in a counter clockwise direction. Thevernal equinox is off to the right. The portion of the minor planet'sorbit that is below the plane of the earth's orbit is shaded grey. Theperihelion point of the minor planet's orbit is at the end of the whitestraight line through the sun indicated by "P".
Also available isinformation on provisionaldesignations.
Where is(6433) Enya tonight?Customisableephemerides are available.
A CCD image (6 K) of Enya,showing its motion over a period of about an hour on 1994 Jan. 21, isavailable.Individual stars appear as two images, one vertically on top of the other.One image of Enya (just to the right of the centre of the image) shows ahorizontal shift with respect to the other as a result of the motion ofthe minor planet.The images were taken by J. Tichá and M. Tichý at Klet Observatory,and are reproduced here with permission.
Enya has her ownofficial website and thishas links to fan sites.
Back toRock & Roll Minor Planets
