In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, 1853 McElroy is referenced by 7 other articles, and connects out to asteroid belt, Minor Planet Center and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.
It sits within the topics Astronomical objects discovered in 1957, Background asteroids and Discoveries by Indiana University (Indiana Asteroid Program).
Its subject is documented across 31 Wikipedia language editions.
Picture of the Day · NASA
Pathfinder on Mars
2026-07-04
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )
- Discovery site
- Goethe Link Obs.
- Discovery date
- 15 December 1957
- Named after
- William D. McElroy , (American biochemist)
- Alternative designations
- 1957 XE · 1930 YP, 1950 NX · 1950 OM
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer )
- Observation arc
- 66.70 yr (24,364 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.2153 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.9115 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.0634 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.36 yr (1,958 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 106.92 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 1.68 / day
- Inclination
- 15.759°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 298.77°
- Argument of perihelion
- 89.936°
- Dimensions
- 17.47 ± 0.64 km , 20.89 km (derived) , 21.09 ± 0.67 km , 21.14 ± 1.0 km , 23.807 ± 0.154 , 24.065 ± 0.282 km
- Synodic rotation period
- 8.016 ± 0.005 h , 8.0229 ± 0.0041 h (R) , 8.0262 ± 0.0020 h (R)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- William D. McElroy
- Followed by
- 1854 Skvortsov
- Follows
- 1852 Carpenter
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 23.807
- Orbital period
- 1959.948770510204
Show 17 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Indiana Asteroid Program
- site of astronomical discovery
- Goethe Link Observatory
- provisional designation
- 1957 XE
- time of discovery or invention
- 1957-12-15
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.04559863813588335
- orbital inclination
- 15.78492437665827
- periapsis
- 2.925242754688998
- apoapsis
- 3.204762653047377
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 3.065002703868188
- mean anomaly
- 293.5757557368074
- longitude of ascending node
- 298.6060367443354
- argument of periapsis
- 94.29811568718158
- absolute magnitude
- 10.87
- albedo
- 0.197
- rotation period
- 8.016
- time of periapsis
- 2461362.1336552105
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
1853 McElroy, provisional designation 1957 XE, is an asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 21 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 December 1957, by the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana, United States, and named for American biochemist William D. McElroy.
Orbit and classification
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “1853 McElroy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.