(7911) Carlpilcher Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 8 September 1977 by E. Bowell at Palomar.
Named in honor of Carl B. Pilcher, who directs NASA's Solar System Exploration Program. While at M.I.T. and the University of Hawaii, Pilcher studied Jupiter's atmosphere and satellites, especially Io's interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere, using ground-based telescopes. He has been a member of the imaging team of the Galileo mission to Jupiter since 1977. Pilcher has also studied international relations, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School, and with the skills he acquired worked at the Office of Space Science at NASA headquarters. He undertook strategic planning and other responsibilities at NASA prior to joining the planetary program during a time of unprecedented resurgence of planetary spacecraft launches. Citation written by C. R. Chapman.Naming citation (19990728/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Carlpilcher is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Carlpilcher is 2.58 au from the Sun and 2.39 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7911 |
| Provisional designation | 1977 RZ8 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.88 |
| Orbital period | 4.94 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.90 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.43 – 3.37 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.161 |
| Inclination | 15.3° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.48 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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All asteroids named after someone called Carl