(7607) Billmerline Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 18 September 1995 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak.
Named in honor of William J. Merline (b. 1954), planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and a dedicated instrumentalist and observer. While a graduate student at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory he codiscovered periodic variations of the radial velocity of the star Arcturus. He made thousands of hours of observations for a search for planets orbiting other stars and a study of the stability of the solar spectrum. He is now a member of the imaging team of the Galileo mission, studying cratering records from spacecraft imagery. He is also conducting a search for satellites of minor planets using coronagraphic imaging with ground-based telescopes.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 4, #9, 4), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Billmerline is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Billmerline is 2.88 au from the Sun and 3.75 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7607 |
| Provisional designation | 1995 SB13 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 12.4 km (#3,934 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0550 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.1 |
| Orbital period | 4.64 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.78 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.55 – 3.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0842 |
| Inclination | 4.48° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.54 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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