(8954) Baral Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 20 March 1998 by LINEAR at Socorro.
Jessika Baral (b. 1999) is a finalist in the 2012 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle-school students, for her biochemistry, medicine, health science, and microbiology project. She attends the Hopkins Junior High School, Fremont, California.Naming citation (20121029/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Baral is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Baral is 2.45 au from the Sun and 2.42 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8954 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 FK62 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.90 km (#10,806 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.185 |
| Rotation period | 5.14 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.25 |
| Orbital period | 3.40 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.26 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.97 – 2.56 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.131 |
| Inclination | 4.99° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.984 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 20 March 1998
- (8744) Cilla
- (8745) Delaney
- (9126) Samcoulson
- (9243) Alag
- (9454) Ardeishar
- (11169) Alkon
- (11170) Bradenmilford
- (11173) Jayanderson
- (11174) Carandrews
- (11176) Batth
- (11685) Adamcurry
- (11686) Samuelweissman