Astronomical objects discovered in 1973

Comet Kohoutek (pronounced "ko-HU-tek" or "ko-ho-tek"), formally designated as C/1973 E1, 1973 XII and 1973f, is a comet that passed close to the Sun towards the end of 1973. Early predictions of the comet's peak brightness suggested that it had the potential to become one of the brightest comets of the 20th century, capturing the attention of the wider public and the press and earning the comet the moniker of "Comet of the Century". Although Kohoutek became rather bright, the comet was ultimately far dimmer than the optimistic projections: its apparent magnitude peaked at only –3 (as opposed to predictions of roughly magnitude –10) and it was visible for only a short period, quickly dimming below naked-eye visibility by the end of January 1974.

2014 Vasilevskis, provisional designation 1973 JA, is a stony Phocaean asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) in diameter. It was discovered on 2 May 1973, by American astronomer Arnold Klemola at the U.S. Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, California. It was named after Stanislavs Vasilevskis, staff member at the discovering observatory.

2035 Stearns, provisional designation 1973 SC, is a bright Hungaria asteroid and sizable Mars-crosser inside the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 21 September 1973, by American astronomer James Gibson at the Leoncito Astronomical Complex in Argentina. The transitional E-type asteroid has a long rotation period of 93 hours. It was named after American astronomer Carl Leo Stearns.

1911 Schubart, provisional designation 1973 UD, is a dark Hildian asteroid and parent body of the Schubart family, located in the outermost region of the asteroid belt, approximately 70 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 October 1973, by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald Observatory, near Bern, Switzerland. The asteroid was named after German astronomer Joachim Schubart.

2008 Konstitutsiya, provisionally designated is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 50 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 27 September 1973, by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named for the 1977 Soviet Constitution.

5196 Bustelli (prov. designation: 3102 T-2) is a stony Eunomia asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 September 1973, by Dutch astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, and Tom Gehrels the Palomar Observatory. The S-type asteroid was named after Italian-Swiss artist Franz Anton Bustelli.

5655 Barney, provisional designation 1159 T-2, is a Maria asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter. It was discovered during the second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1973, and named for American astronomer Ida Barney in 1994. The stony S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 2.66 hours.

3548 Eurybates (yə-RIB-ə-teez) is a carbonaceous Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp and the parent body of the Eurybates family, approximately 68 kilometers (42 miles) in diameter. It is a target to be visited by the Lucy mission in August 2027. Discovered during the second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1973, it was later named after Eurybates from Greek mythology. This C-type asteroid is among the 60 largest known Jupiter trojans and has a rotation period of 8.7 hours. Eurybates has one kilometer-sized satellite, named Queta, that was discovered in images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2018.

9999 Wiles, provisional designation 4196 T-2, is a Koronian asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 to 7 kilometers in diameter. It was named after British mathematician Andrew Wiles.

4587 Rees, provisional designation 3239 T-2, is a Mars-crosser and former near-Earth object on an eccentric orbit from the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in diameter. It was discovered during the second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey on 30 September 1973, by Dutch astronomer couple Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, and Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory in California. The assumed S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 7.9 hours and is likely elongated in shape. It was named after British astrophysicist Martin Rees.