(42837) Waltrobinson Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 9 August 1999 by J. Broughton at Reedy Creek.
Walter Robinson (b. 1950) is an American amateur astronomer who has observed over a thousand lunar occultations since joining IOTA in 1988. Behind the scenes he has worked on recovering lost observations, coauthoring the book Occultation Observer’s Handbook, maintaining web content, and distributing occultation prediction software worldwide.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #17, 20), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Waltrobinson is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Waltrobinson is 2.27 au from the Sun and 1.30 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 42837 |
| Provisional designation | 1999 PR1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.47 km (#7,129 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0470 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.8 |
| Orbital period | 3.81 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.44 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.26 – 2.62 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0743 |
| Inclination | 2.17° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.25 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