(11666) Bracker Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 June 1997 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak.
Steve Bracker (b. 1942) is a renaissance man---particle physicist, harpsichordist, astronomer, naturalist and software guru. The very first programmer with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, he continued his involvement in astronomy with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.Naming citation (20020427/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Bracker is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Bracker is 2.38 au from the Sun and 3.01 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 11666 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 MD8 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.40 km (#11,834 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.209 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.3 |
| Orbital period | 3.73 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.40 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.01 – 2.79 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.162 |
| Inclination | 1.36° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.02 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Steve
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- (11728) Einer
- (13822) Stevedodson
- (14277) Parsa
- (14942) Stevebaker
- (19379) Labrecque
- (19833) Wickwar
- (22852) Kinney
- (24654) Fossett
- (25521) Stevemorgan
- (32120) Stevezheng
- (38640) Rau
All asteroids named after someone called Steve