13597

13597 is a main-belt minor planet first observed on 15 March 1994 by the LINEAR survey at the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research station in Socorro, New Mexico. The provisional designation 1994 PZ was assigned upon discovery, and it received its permanent number 13597 only after its orbit was well determined. LINEAR’s automated pipeline detected the object as a slowly moving point source against the background stars, and subsequent follow‑up observations over several months refined its orbital elements.

The asteroid’s orbit is typical of the central main belt, with a semi‑major axis of 2.24 astronomical units and an eccentricity of 0.12 that places its perihelion at 1.97 AU and aphelion at 2.51 AU. Its inclination relative to the ecliptic plane is modest, at about 4.3°, and it completes one revolution around the Sun roughly every 3.35 years. The orbital period and other elements are currently consistent with a non‑family asteroid, meaning it is not associated with a known collisional group.

Preliminary photometric observations suggest an absolute magnitude of 13.8, which, assuming a standard albedo of 0.20, translates into a diameter estimate of about 4.2 kilometres. No radar measurements or detailed spectral data have yet been published, so its precise composition remains uncertain. At present, 13597 is catalogued in the Minor Planet Center database with no naming designation beyond its numerical identifier.