(12215) Jessicalounsbury Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 October 1981 by S. J. Bus at Palomar.
Jessica Lounsbury (nee Thompson, b. 1979) contributed to NASA's Lucy Trojan asteroid mission as the NASA Project Systems Engineer. She can often be found on her boat fishing and crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband Brian.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 1, #9, 11), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Jessicalounsbury is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Jessicalounsbury is 1.96 au from the Sun and 1.30 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12215 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 US22 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.14 km (#14,855 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.341 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.73 |
| Orbital period | 3.49 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.30 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.95 – 2.65 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.154 |
| Inclination | 6.54° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.956 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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