(162978) Helenhart Outer Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 19 August 2001 by M. W. Buie at Cerro Tololo.
Helen M. Hart (b. 1954), a mission operations analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, served as a Mission Sequencer for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2018-05-29), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Helenhart is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Helenhart is 3.38 au from the Sun and 3.36 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 162978 |
| Provisional designation | 2001 QD333 |
| Orbit class | Outer Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.20 km (#10,251 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0600 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.39 |
| Orbital period | 5.83 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.24 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.96 – 3.52 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0857 |
| Inclination | 2.88° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.95 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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All asteroids named after someone called Helen
Also discovered on 19 August 2001
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