(17601) Sheldonschafer Inner Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 19 September 1995 by T. B. Spahr at Catalina Station.
Sheldon Schafer (b. 1948), vice-president of education for the Lakeview Museum in Peoria, Illinois, has touched the lives of over 500~000 students during his 34 years at the Lakeview Planetarium. He oversaw the construction of the world's largest “complete” model of the solar system, recognized in the Guinness Book of Records.Naming citation (20100527/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Sheldonschafer is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Sheldonschafer is 1.73 au from the Sun and 2.65 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 17601 |
| Provisional designation | 1995 SS |
| Orbit class | Inner Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.35 |
| Orbital period | 2.45 years |
| Semi-major axis | 1.82 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.70 – 1.94 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0644 |
| Inclination | 24.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.719 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Sheldon
All asteroids named after someone called Sheldon