(15968) Waltercugno Outer Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 27 February 1998 by Tombelli, M., Casacci, C. at Cima Ekar.
Walter Cugno (b. 1955) works in the Italian space industry. During his career, he developed projects for the International Space Station and space exploration. He supported satellite projects including Sax, Hipparcos and ExoMars. Name suggested by Ilaria Locantore.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2016-04-22), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Waltercugno is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Waltercugno is 3.13 au from the Sun and 3.73 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 15968 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 DX35 |
| Orbit class | Outer Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 10.2 km (#4,988 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0810 |
| Rotation period | 5.19 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.47 |
| Orbital period | 5.80 years |
| Semi-major axis | 3.23 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.85 – 3.61 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.118 |
| Inclination | 1.00° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.84 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
Also discovered on 27 February 1998
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- (11166) Anatolefrance
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- (15417) Babylon
- (15418) Sergiospinelli
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