(306128) Pipher Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 12 May 2010 by WISE at WISE.
Judith Pipher (b. 1940) is an astrophysicist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Rochester. One of the first U.S. astronomers to observe the skies with an infrared array camera, she is known as “the mother of infrared astronomy.” She helped build and test infrared detectors for the Spitzer Space Telescope.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2018-01-31), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Pipher is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Pipher is 2.86 au from the Sun and 2.64 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 306128 |
| Provisional designation | 2010 JP109 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.88 km (#10,855 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0320 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.94 |
| Orbital period | 5.43 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.09 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.84 – 3.34 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0803 |
| Inclination | 8.52° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.84 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Judith
All asteroids named after someone called Judith