4450 Pan is an asteroid that was discovered on September 25, 1987 by Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker. It is named after the Greek god of nature and wild animals. It is a Venus, Mars, and Earth crosser. Pan approaches nearer than 10 Gm to those three planets, and within 20 Gm of Mercury.
Famous quotes containing the word pan:
“I can’t accept “our nervous age,” since mankind has been nervous during every age. Whoever fears nervousness should turn into a sturgeon or smelt; if a sturgeon makes a stupid mistake, it can only be one: to end up on a hook, and then in a pan in a pastry shell.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)