(108496) Sullenberger Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 21 May 2001 by R. A. Tucker at Goodricke-Pigott.
Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III (b. 1951), a former US Airways airline captain, is celebrated for successfully landing his disabled airliner on the Hudson River off Manhattan without loss of life on 15 January 2009.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2018-05-29), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Sullenberger is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Sullenberger is 2.34 au from the Sun and 2.69 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 108496 |
| Provisional designation | 2001 KD64 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 2.68 km (#15,913 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.357 |
| Rotation period | 5.47 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.9 |
| Orbital period | 4.15 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.58 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.15 – 3.02 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.170 |
| Inclination | 14.4° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.14 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.