Named in honour of Michael R. Dence, executive director of the Royal Society of Canada and formerly a geologist with the Dominion Observatory. Dence was a pioneer in the geologic investigation of ancient impact craters on the Canadian shield. He made one of the first good estimates of the cratering rate on the earth in Phanerozoic time from studies of impact structures in Canada and Europe. JRASC
Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid
Reference: MPC 17656
Name:
Dence
Number:
4340
Designation:
1986 JZ
Disc. Date:
1986-05-04
Discoverer:
Shoemaker, C.S. & E.M.
Disc. Place:
Palomar