This means there is a chance it will eventually collide with the planet, with the odds of a collision estimated at 18% per billion orbits.
[14] This minor planet was named in honour of the English astronomer of German origin William Herschel (1738–1822), who discovered what he called Georgium Sidus (aka Uranus).
[3] The asteroid is one of several early "kilo-numbered" minor planets that were dedicated to renowned scientists or institutions including:[16] The sequence continues with the asteroids 5000 IAU (for the International Astronomical Union), 6000 United Nations (for the United Nations), 7000 Curie (for the pioneers on radioactivity, Marie and Pierre Curie), and 8000 Isaac Newton (for Isaac Newton),[16] while 9000 Hal (after HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey) and 10000 Myriostos (after the Greek word for ten-thousandth, which is meant to honor all astronomers) were named based on their direct numeric accordance.
[4] Analysis of the lightcurve for this object appears to show that it is tumbling, with rotation occurring about the non-principal axis.
Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 130±3 hours with a high brightness variation of 1.16±0.05 magnitude (U=2).