+ View the NASA Portal + Near-Earth Object (NEO) Program Search JPL JPL Small-Body Database Browser Search: [ help ]   10972 Merbold (1188 T-2) Classification: Main-belt Asteroid          SPK-ID: 2010972 [ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Discovery Circumstances ] [ show orbit diagram ] Orbital Elements at Epoch 2456400.5 (2013-Apr-18.0) TDB Reference: JPL 1 (heliocentric ecliptic J2000)  Element Value Uncertainty (1-sigma)   Units  e .09249902173201746 6.7014e-08   a 2.45063499433389 1.6301e-08 AU q 2.223953654735757 1.6409e-07 AU i 2.323724839213742 6.2116e-06 deg node 241.2599899309391 0.00016071 deg peri 340.1840170005433 0.00016613 deg M 251.9569777432781 4.3029e-05 deg tp 2456821.043181979548 (2014-Jun-12.54318198) 0.00016835 JED period 1401.252411774496 3.84 1.3981e-05 3.828e-08 d yr n .2569130279277156 2.5634e-09 deg/d Q 2.677316333932023 1.7809e-08 AU   Orbit Determination Parameters    # obs. used (total)      1008      data-arc span      14441 days (39.54 yr)      first obs. used      1973-09-20      last obs. used      2013-04-04      planetary ephem.      DE405      SB-pert. ephem.      SB405-CPV-2      condition code      0      fit RMS      .55547      data source      ORB      producer      Otto Matic      solution date      2013-Apr-29 13:42:29   Additional Information  Earth MOID = 1.21579 AU   T_jup = 3.489  [ show covariance matrix ] [ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Discovery Circumstances ] Physical Parameter Table Parameter Symbol Value Units Sigma Reference Notes absolute magnitude H 14.1 mag n/a PDS3 (MPC 34815)   10972 Merbold           Discovered 1973 Sept. 29 by C. J. van Houten and I. van Houten-Groeneveld on Palomar Schmidt plates taken by T. Gehrels. In 1983 and 1988, the German physicist Ulf Merbold was the first European astronaut to perform research on board the Space Shuttle with the European Space Agency's Spacelab. This was followed in 1994 by four weeks as an ESA astronaut on the Russian Mir Space Station. The name was suggested by H. Graf. NOTE: some special characters may not display properly (any characters within {} are an attempt to place the proper accent above a character) Reference: 20080520/MPCPages.arc Last Updated: 2008-05-22 Alternate Designations  1188 T-2 = 1991 GM5 = 2424 T-3  [ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Discovery Circumstances ] 2013-May-21 13:36 UT (server date/time)   Site Manager:   Donald K. Yeomans Webmaster:   Alan B. Chamberlin