(5636) Jacobson Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 22 August 1985 by E. Bowell at Anderson Mesa.
Robert A. Jacobson (1944- ) is a noted authority on spacecraft navigation techniques, and he is currently developing ephemerides for natural satellites at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was instrumental in generating the accurate satellite ephemerides used by the Voyager 2 spacecraft project during its encounters with Uranus and Neptune. These ephemerides were developed using both ground-based astrometry and spacecraft optical navigation data. Citation prepared by D. K. Yeomans, a colleague of the honoree.Naming citation (MPC22831), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Jacobson is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Jacobson is 2.39 au from the Sun and 1.93 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 5636 |
| Provisional designation | 1985 QN |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.84 km (#6,733 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.218 |
| Rotation period | 4.90 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.86 |
| Orbital period | 4.59 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.76 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.39 – 3.14 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.135 |
| Inclination | 2.40° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.38 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Robert
- (1955) McMath
- (3514) Hooke
- (3875) Staehle
- (4564) Clayton
- (4809) Robertball
- (5109) Robertmiller
- (5308) Hutchison
- (5477) Holmes
- (5585) Parks
- (5739) Robertburns
- (5817) Robertfrazer
- (5871) Bobbell
All asteroids named after someone called Robert
Also discovered on 22 August 1985
More named asteroids discovered by E. Bowell
- (2246) Bowell
- (2264) Sabrina
- (2270) Yazhi
- (2316) Jo-Ann
- (2356) Hirons
- (2357) Phereclos
- (2383) Bradley
- (2409) Chapman
- (2410) Morrison
- (2411) Zellner
- (2421) Nininger
- (2432) Soomana
← (5635) Cole · (5637) Gyas →