(38639) Samuels Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 5 July 2000 by LONEOS at Anderson Mesa.

David Samuels (b. 1959) is an American amateur astronomer who for many years has installed, operated and maintained global CAMS (Cameras for All-Sky Meteor Surveillance) low-light video camera stations for the mapping of meteor showers. He was instrumental in establishing the first CAMS station at Fremont Peak Observatory.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #14, 8), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

🐶 Samuels as a dog name

Where Samuels is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Samuels is 1.94 au from the Sun and 1.63 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	38639
Provisional designation	2000 NJ16
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	1.32 km (#17,386 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.305
Absolute magnitude (H)	16.49
Orbital period	3.27 years
Semi-major axis	2.20 au
Perihelion – aphelion	1.84 – 2.57 au
Eccentricity	0.166
Inclination	4.22°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.842 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also named after someone called David

All asteroids named after someone called David

Also discovered on 5 July 2000

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