(4838) Billmclaughlin Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 2 July 1989 by E. F. Helin at Palomar.
Named in honor of William I. McLaughlin (b. 1935) on the occasion of his retirement from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he made innovative contributions to many projects, including Viking, Seasat, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and Voyager (Uranus), and to the management of two technical sections. He also served as deputy manager of the astrophysics and fundamental physics program office. For 14 years McLaughlin wrote a column in Spaceflight called “Space at JPL”. He takes a special interest in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and epistemology, as well as space exploration and has written numerous papers.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Billmclaughlin is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Billmclaughlin is 2.63 au from the Sun and 1.80 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 4838 |
| Provisional designation | 1989 NJ |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 10.3 km (#4,956 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.143 |
| Rotation period | 5.20 hours |
| Spectral type | Xc |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.08 |
| Orbital period | 3.61 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.35 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.01 – 2.69 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.145 |
| Inclination | 8.89° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.01 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called William
- (1853) McElroy
- (2220) Hicks
- (3445) Pinson
- (3894) Williamcooke
- (4137) Crabtree
- (4423) Golden
- (5345) Boynton
- (5763) Williamtobin
- (6012) Williammurdoch
- (6613) Williamcarl
- (6756) Williamfeldman
- (7355) Bottke
All asteroids named after someone called William