(7948) Whitaker Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 24 April 1992 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak.
Ewen A. Whitaker (b. 1922) was a founding member of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. He participated in the construction of lunar atlases and maps. For Apollo 12 he successfully identified the crater in which Surveyor III had landed. He located manmade impact craters using lunar surface imagery.Naming citation (20000124/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Whitaker is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Whitaker is 2.44 au from the Sun and 3.35 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 7948 |
| Provisional designation | 1992 HY |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.66 km (#11,323 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.270 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 13.87 |
| Orbital period | 3.81 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.44 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.32 – 2.56 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0490 |
| Inclination | 0.537° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.33 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also discovered on 24 April 1992
More named asteroids discovered by Spacewatch
- (3801) Thrasymedes
- (4255) Spacewatch
- (4442) Garcia
- (5145) Pholus
- (5626) Melissabrucker
- (5923) Liedeke
- (6050) Miwablock
- (6141) Durda
- (6748) Bratton
- (6837) Bressi
- (7066) Nessus
- (7229) Tonimoore
← (7947) Toland · (7950) Berezov →