(14969) Willacather Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 28 August 1997 by R. Linderholm at Lime Creek.
Born in Virginia, the novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Willa Cather (1873-1947) moved to Nebraska in 1883. Her early life on the prairie and sympathy for the immigrant pioneer influenced her mature years and shows in her best-known novels, My Antonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop.Naming citation (20001013/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Willacather is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Willacather is 2.61 au from the Sun and 2.91 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 14969 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 QC1 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.26 km (#14,571 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.199 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.76 |
| Orbital period | 3.46 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.29 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.96 – 2.61 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.141 |
| Inclination | 3.42° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.951 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.