(12158) Tape Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 29 September 1973 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.
Walter Tape (b. 1941) is an Alaskan mathematician. With his book Atmospheric halos he made an outstanding contribution to the popularization of these beautiful phenomena. The name was suggested by G. P. Können and M. Drummen.Naming citation (20091202/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Tape is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Tape is 2.82 au from the Sun and 2.51 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 12158 |
| Provisional designation | 1101 T-2 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.67 |
| Orbital period | 5.20 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.00 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.82 – 3.18 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0605 |
| Inclination | 1.25° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.83 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
- (15265) Ernsting
- (15968) Waltercugno
All asteroids named after someone called Walter
Also discovered on 29 September 1973
- (2049) Grietje
- (4357) Korinthos
- (4549) Burkhardt
- (4721) Atahualpa
- (4752) Myron
- (4876) Strabo
- (4978) Seitz
- (5151) Weerstra
- (5197) Rottmann
- (5243) Clasien
- (5244) Amphilochos
- (5266) Rauch