(26990) Culbertson Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 23 November 1997 by N. Sato at Chichibu.
Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. (b. 1949), former NASA astronaut, recorded the NASA program “Amateur Radio on the ISS” for the first time in Japan on 2001 Nov. 23 in Iruma City.Naming citation (20111012/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Culbertson is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Culbertson is 2.75 au from the Sun and 3.27 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 26990 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 WZ7 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.28 km (#7,330 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.175 |
| Rotation period | 5.53 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.55 |
| Orbital period | 5.13 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.98 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.61 – 3.34 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.124 |
| Inclination | 11.3° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.62 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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