1777 Gehrels

Gehrels was discovered during the Palomar–Leiden survey by the Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten, in collaboration with Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, California, on 24 September 1960.^[12]

The survey designation "P-L" stands for Palomar–Leiden, named after Palomar and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory, where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand minor planets.^[13]

It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.6–2.7 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,554 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.02 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.^[1]

First observed as A905 UE at Heidelberg Observatory in 1905, Gehrels' first used observation was made at Goethe Link Observatory in 1958, extending the body's observation arc by 2 years prior to its official discovery at Palomar.^[12]

This S-type asteroid is characterized as a transitional Sq-type in the SMASS classification.^[1]

This minor planet was named in honor of Dutch-born American astronomer Tom Gehrels (1925–2011), professor at the University of Arizona, staff member of the LPL research center at Tucson, a principal investigator in the Pioneer program, receiver of the Masursky Award, initiator of the Spacewatch project, and co-discoverer of thousands of minor planets in the Palomar–Leiden survey (see above). He was a pioneer in the field of photometric and polarimetric observations of Solar System bodies in the 1950s.^[2][14] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 1971 (M.P.C. 3185).^[15]