(124852) Cooper Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 14 October 2001 by W. G. Dillon J. Dellinger at Needville.
F. Don Cooper (b. 1938) is a retired American physicist who helped develop the guidance equations that made the Apollo missions to the Moon possible, including performing emergency calculations to save Apollo 13. He dedicates his time to educational outreach, using his accounts of how we got to the Moon to inspire new generations of scientists and engineers.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #23, 9), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
👶 Cooper as a baby name🐶 Cooper as a dog name🐱 Cooper as a cat name
Where Cooper is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Cooper is 2.23 au from the Sun and 1.34 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 124852 |
| Provisional designation | 2001 TB19 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.30 km (#14,479 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0780 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 16.14 |
| Orbital period | 3.57 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.34 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.79 – 2.88 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.233 |
| Inclination | 24.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.961 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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All asteroids named after someone called Don
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