(8625) Simonhelberg Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 1 March 1981 by S. J. Bus at Siding Spring.
American actor and comedian Simon Maxwell Helberg (b. 1980) portrays the fictional Caltech aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz in the television sitcom The Big Bang Theory.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 3, #12, 12), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Simonhelberg is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Simonhelberg is 2.64 au from the Sun and 3.12 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 8625 |
| Provisional designation | 1981 EX15 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.69 km (#13,478 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.247 |
| Rotation period | 5.27 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.68 |
| Orbital period | 4.21 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.61 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.40 – 2.81 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0796 |
| Inclination | 3.63° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.40 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Simon
- (7984) Marius
- (9831) Simongreen
- (10286) Shnollia
- (10965) van Leverink
- (11467) Simonporter
- (12946) Portegieszwart
- (31416) Peteworden
- (32585) Tardivel
- (34408) Simonanghel
- (58750) Simonjeanne
- (69275) Wiesenthal
- (142401) Simonhook
All asteroids named after someone called Simon
Also discovered on 1 March 1981
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- (3016) Meuse
- (3029) Sanders
- (3030) Vehrenberg
- (3042) Zelinsky
- (3058) Delmary
- (3075) Bornmann
- (3135) Lauer
- (3308) Ferreri
- (3472) Upgren
- (3498) Belton
- (3503) Brandt