(129968) Mitchwhiteley Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 October 1999 by CSS at Catalina.
Mitchell Whiteley (b. 1972) designed the camera FPGA read-out electronics on the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission OCAMS camera. He also designed the SOFIE Sun Tracker for NASA-AIM and served as the USURF-SDL Digital Imaging Space Camera lead.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2016-11-14), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Mitchwhiteley is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Mitchwhiteley is 3.12 au from the Sun and 3.33 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 129968 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 UA15 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.01 km (#12,714 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0760 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.55 |
| Orbital period | 4.71 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.81 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.25 – 3.37 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.198 |
| Inclination | 8.78° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.26 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Mitchell
All asteroids named after someone called Mitchell
Also discovered on 29 October 1999
- (13410) Arhale
- (13412) Guerrieri
- (13413) Bobpeterson
- (13414) Grantham
- (13415) Stevenbland
- (14674) INAOE
- (15513) Emmermann
- (21873) Jindrichuvhradec
- (21888) Durech
- (22961) Rosegarcia
- (24090) Grindavik
- (24093) Tomoyamaguchi