(10012) Tmutarakania

(10012) Tmutarakania is an asteroid that is part of the asteroid belt and was discovered by Lyudmila Gueorgievna Karachkina and Nikolai Stepanovich Chernyj on September 3, 1978 from the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchny.

Designation and name

Tmutarakania was originally designated as 1978 RE₃. Later, in 2001, it was named after the former Russian principality of Tmutarakáñ.

Orbital characteristics

Tmutarakania is located at an average distance of 2,442 AU from the Sun, being able to get as close as 1,982 AU and as far away as 2,902 AU. Its orbital inclination is 1.558 degrees and eccentricity 0.1883. It takes 1,394 days to complete one orbit around the Sun. The movement of Tmutarakania on the stellar background is 0.2583 degrees per day.

Physical characteristics

The absolute magnitude of Tmutarakania is 14.6.