(14511) Nickel Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 11 March 1996 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak.
Jack Allen “Triple” Nickel (b. 1949) joined the Aircraft Operations Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center in 1997. Flying the Shuttle Trainer Aircraft (STA), Nickel helps teach astronauts to land the space shuttle. He is also a keen amateur astronomer and has made a 0.20-m telescope.Naming citation (20030614/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Nickel is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Nickel is 2.19 au from the Sun and 2.59 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 14511 |
| Provisional designation | 1996 EU3 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.12 km (#12,452 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.287 |
| Rotation period | 35.6 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.26 |
| Orbital period | 3.68 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.38 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.10 – 2.66 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.117 |
| Inclination | 7.70° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.10 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Jack
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- (20489) Lissauer
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All asteroids named after someone called Jack