Key facts
- Discovered by
- Schelte J. "Bobby" Bus
- Discovery site
- Siding Spring Obs.
- Discovery date
- 2 March 1981 , (45 years ago) ( 1981-03-02 )
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ f l ɒr ə n s /
- Named after
- Florence Nightingale , (English nurse)
- Alternative designations
- 1981 ET 3 · 1983 CN 1
- Minor planet category
- Amor · NEO · PHA
- Observation arc
- 38.52 yr (14,069 days)
- Aphelion
- 2.5180 AU
- Perihelion
- 1.0203 AU
- Semi major axis
- 1.7691 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 2.35 yr (859 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 351.44 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 25 8.04 / day
- Inclination
- 22.151°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 336.10°
- Argument of perihelion
- 27.847°
- Earth moid
- 0.0443 AU · 17.3 LD
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- near-Earth asteroid
- Named after
- Florence Nightingale
- Followed by
- 3123 Dunham
- Follows
- 3121 Tamines
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 4.9
- Orbital period
- 859.3006319561886
- Image
- Triple asteroid 3122 Florence.gif
Show 20 more facts
- longitude of ascending node
- 336.0403694851483
- discoverer or inventor
- Schelte J. Bus
- site of astronomical discovery
- Siding Spring Observatory
- provisional designation
- 1983 CN1
- time of discovery or invention
- 1981-03-02
- orbital inclination
- 22.14277038617249
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 1.768877683705672
- periapsis
- 1.020220572478066
- apoapsis
- 2.517534794933277
- argument of periapsis
- 27.88474069058282
- mean anomaly
- 168.257523565948
- rotation period
- 2.3581
- asteroid spectral type
- S-type asteroid
- apparent magnitude
- 9.14
- absolute magnitude
- 14.08
- Commons category
- 3122 Florence
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.4232384851275994
- albedo
- 0.231
- time of periapsis
- 2460598.8783435235
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3122 Florence is a stony triple asteroid of the Amor group. It is classified as a near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid. It measures approximately 5 kilometers in diameter. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.0–2.5 AU once every 2 years and 4 months (859 days); the orbit has an eccentricity of 0.42 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic. Florence has two moons.
Florence was discovered on 2 March 1981 by American astronomer Schelte J. "Bobby" Bus at Siding Spring Observatory. Its provisional designation was 1981 ET3. It was named in honor of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing; the naming citation was published on 6 April 1993 (M.P.C. 21955).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “3122 Florence” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.