18880 Toddblumberg

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Toddblumberg
Discovery
Discovered by Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research Team
Discovery site Socorro
Discovery date December 10, 1999
Designations
MPC designation 18880
1999 XM166
Orbital characteristics
Epoch May 14, 2008
Aphelion 3.8040848
Perihelion 2.5921618
Eccentricity 0.1894741
2089.0134431
180.05642
Inclination 9.65453
20.02172
30.32189
Physical characteristics
14.3

18880 Toddblumberg (1999 XM166) is a main-belt asteroid, which means it is a type of minor planet located roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This asteroid was discovered on December 10, 1999 by the Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research Team (LINEAR) at Socorro, New Mexico.

Although discovered by LINEAR, 18880 Toddblumberg is not a near-Earth asteroid. Its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is about double the maximum distance of 1.3 AU that qualifies an asteroid as "near-Earth".[1]

This asteroid was named for Todd James Blumberg (b. 1984), a student at the Plano Senior High School in Plano, Texas who won a science award for his microbiology project in 2003.[2][3] Since 2001, hundreds of secondary school students who have won awards at science fairs have had asteroids named after them.[4][5]

See also

Meanings of minor planet names: 18001–19000

References