(9921) Rubincam Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 2 March 1981 by S. J. Bus at Siding Spring.
David P. Rubincam (b. 1947) is an American planetary geodynamicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, who has made seminal contributions to Solar System and spaceflight dynamics. He was among the first to recognize the importance of radiation recoil torque, which he named the YORP effect, to asteroid evolution.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2015-09-28), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Rubincam is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Rubincam is 2.39 au from the Sun and 2.09 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 9921 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 EO18 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.25 km (#12,161 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.204 |
| Rotation period | 8.01 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.41 |
| Orbital period | 3.66 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.38 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.23 – 2.52 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0597 |
| Inclination | 2.40° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.25 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called David
- (2410) Morrison
- (4262) DeVorkin
- (4536) Drewpinsky
- (5270) Kakabadze
- (5332) Davidaguilar
- (5826) Bradstreet
- (5845) Davidbrewster
- (5920) Davidbell
- (5965) Meisel
- (6033) Southwood
- (6111) Davemckay
- (6435) Daveross
All asteroids named after someone called David
Also discovered on 2 March 1981
- (2884) Reddish
- (2919) Dali
- (2980) Cameron
- (2981) Chagall
- (2990) Trimberger
- (3000) Leonardo
- (3121) Tamines
- (3122) Florence
- (3207) Spinrad
- (3252) Johnny
- (3304) Pearce
- (3524) Schulz