(53237) Simonson Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 9 February 1999 by R. A. Tucker at Goodricke-Pigott.
Walter Simonson (b. 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist. He has written and/or illustrated hundreds of comics for several publishers, but is most famous for his work on Thor for Marvel Comics beginning with the November 1983 issue. In 1985, he received the Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2018-01-31), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Simonson is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Simonson is 2.99 au from the Sun and 3.60 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 53237 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 CU118 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 5.26 km (#10,122 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.279 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.84 |
| Orbital period | 5.53 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.13 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.33 – 3.93 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.256 |
| Inclination | 15.9° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.35 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Walter
- (4588) Wislicenus
- (6318) Cronkite
- (7921) Huebner
- (8722) Schirra
- (9132) Walteranderson
- (9187) Walterkroll
- (9577) Gropius
- (9661) Hohmann
- (9696) Jaffe
- (11789) Kempowski
- (12158) Tape
- (15265) Ernsting
All asteroids named after someone called Walter