(53025) Willnoel Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 16 November 1998 by CSS at Catalina.
William Gerard Noel (1965–2024) was a British-American medieval manuscript expert, who served as Associate University Librarian for Special Collections at Princeton University. He led the Archimedes Palimpsest Project, which revealed a lost codex of Archimedes.Naming citation (WGSBN Bull. 5, #4, 26), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Willnoel is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Willnoel is 1.71 au from the Sun and 0.718 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 53025 |
| Provisional designation | 1998 WD |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 3.35 km (#14,358 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.250 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.68 |
| Orbital period | 3.52 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.32 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.71 – 2.93 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.263 |
| Inclination | 24.6° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.711 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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