General

The asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

 12374 Rakhat is a Main belt

Asteroid belt

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...

 asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

 discovered by Charles de Saint-Aignan at Lowell Observatory

Lowell Observatory

Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965....

, examining films taken at Palomar

Palomar Observatory

Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, southeast of Pasadena's Mount Wilson Observatory, in the Palomar Mountain Range. At approximately elevation, it is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology...

.

Citation from the MPCs

Rakhat is a planet with the first known extraterrestrial life in the novel The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell

Mary Doria Russell

Mary Doria Russell is an American novelist. -Biography:Russell was born in the suburbs of Chicago. Her parents were both in the military: her father was a Marine Corps drill instructor, and her mother was a Navy nurse. She graduated from Glenbard East High School and later she earned a Ph.D in...

. First contact is established when a group of specialists organized by Jesuits is sent to the planet. .

Orbital Diagram

This orbital diagram is courtesy of the JPL Small-Body Database Browser

See also

• Asteroid belt
  Asteroid belt
  The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
  
  

Category:Asteroid groups and families
Category:Asteroids

• List of asteroids
• List of asteroids named after important people
• List of asteroids named after places
• List of notable asteroids
• Meanings of asteroid names
  Meanings of asteroid names
  This is a list of named minor planets , with links to the Wikipedia articles on the people, places, characters and concepts that they are named for.-See also:*List of minor planets*List of minor planets named after people...
  
  
• Minor planet
  Minor planet
  An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
  
  
• Minor Planet Center
  Minor Planet Center
  The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory , which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory ....
  
  
• Pronunciation of asteroid names
  Pronunciation of asteroid names
  This page alphabetically lists the first thousand asteroids to be numbered, which are mostly in the main belt.See also Pronunciation of Trojan asteroids.-A:...