The Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union has named an asteroid for Larry Nittler, 5992 Nittler. Click here to see where it is today.

(5992) Nittler = 1981 DZ

Discovered 1981 Feb 28 by S. J. Bus at Siding Spring in the course of the U.K. Schmidt-Caltech Asteroid Survey.

Larry Nittler (b. 1969), a scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is well known for his innovative work on identifying presolar grains in meteorites and using them as probes of stellar processes. His work on the NEAR mission to (433) Eros helped provide the first chemical analyses of a minor planet.

Orbital Elements:

a=2.678 AU

e=0.088

i=9.0 degrees

q=2.442 AU

H=13.5

estimated diameter: 6-12 km (assuming albedo range of 0.05 - 0.2)