(3866) Langley Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 20 January 1988 by H. Debehogne at La Silla.
Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was founder of its Astrophysical Observatory. While Allegheny Observatory director he invented a bolometer. He developed a working wing and in 1896 conducted the first successful flight of an unmanned, heavier-than-air flying machine.Naming citation (20040713/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
👶 Langley as a baby name🐶 Langley as a dog name
Where Langley is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Langley is 3.47 au from the Sun and 3.78 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 3866 |
| Provisional designation | 1988 BH4 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 23.3 km (#1,831 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0430 |
| Rotation period | 9.50 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 11.82 |
| Orbital period | 5.60 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.15 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.57 – 3.74 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.185 |
| Inclination | 3.64° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.57 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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