2867 Šteins
asteroid
2867 Šteins (provisional designation 1969 VC) is an irregular, diamond-shaped background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. Classified as an E-type asteroid, it is approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 4 November 1969 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnij on the Crimean peninsula. In September 2008, European Space Agency's (ESA) spacecraft Rosetta flew by Šteins, making it one of few minor planets ever visited by a spacecraft. The bright E-type asteroid features 23 named craters and has a rotation period of 6.05 hours. It was named for Soviet Latvian astronomer Kārlis Šteins.
Orbit and classification
Šteins is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 2.0–2.7 Astronomical units (AU) once every 3 years and 8 months (1,327 days; semi-major axis of 2.36 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery, taken at the Palomar Observatory in November 1951, or 18 years prior to its official discovery observation.
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