23226

23226 is a numbered minor planet of the main asteroid belt. It was discovered on 14 August 2000 by the LINEAR survey at the Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Test Site in Socorro, New Mexico. The discovery image was acquired with a 1‑meter telescope, and the asteroid was promptly reported to the Minor Planet Center where it received its provisional designation. Subsequent astrometric measurements confirmed its trajectory and led to the assignment of the permanent number 23226.

The orbit of 23226 lies entirely within the main belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Its orbital parameters are typical for a stony background asteroid: a semi‑major axis of approximately 2.75 astronomical units, an eccentricity of 0.17, and an inclination of 6.2°. With a computed orbital period of about 4.6 Earth years, it travels along an orbit that takes it through the inner and outer sections of the central belt. The small size of the asteroid, estimated at roughly 2 to 3 kilometers in diameter based on its absolute magnitude and assumed albedo, indicates that it is a fragment of an earlier collisional event.

Although 23226 has not been officially named, it remains a catalogued object within the IAU Minor Planet Center database and continues to be observed by both professional and amateur astronomers interested in the dynamical evolution of the asteroid belt. Further spectroscopic studies could reveal its precise composition and any potential associations with known asteroid families.