(11277) Ballard Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 8 October 1988 by Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M. at Palomar.
Robert D. Ballard (b. 1942) is a marine scientist who has spent much of his professional career beneath the sea, partly as director of the Deep Submergence Laboratory. As leader of two expeditions, he discovered the Titanic. He is a director of the Jason Project for Education.Naming citation (20020526/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Ballard is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Ballard is 2.84 au from the Sun and 2.56 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 11277 |
| Provisional designation | 1988 TW2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 6.30 km (#8,509 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.222 |
| Rotation period | 15.8 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.23 |
| Orbital period | 3.72 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.40 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.83 – 2.98 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.239 |
| Inclination | 22.8° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.860 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Robert
- (1955) McMath
- (3514) Hooke
- (3875) Staehle
- (4564) Clayton
- (4809) Robertball
- (5109) Robertmiller
- (5308) Hutchison
- (5477) Holmes
- (5585) Parks
- (5636) Jacobson
- (5739) Robertburns
- (5817) Robertfrazer
All asteroids named after someone called Robert