File:Orbit_of_274301_Wikipedia.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
274301 Wikipedia
Sign in to saveAlso known as Wikipedia, 2008 QH₂₄, 2008 QH24, 2007 FK₃₄, 2007 FK34, 1997 RO₄, 1997 RO4, (274301) Wikipedia
main belt asteroid
274301 Wikipedia is an asteroid located in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was named after Wikipedia to honor the free online encyclopedia's role in sharing knowledge globally.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
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
Small body data
(274301) Wikipedia
- Orbit class
- Main-belt
- Semi-major axis
- 2.381 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.148
- Inclination
- 6.730 °
- Absolute magnitude
- 16.970 H
via Minor Planet Center
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Wikipedia
- Demonym
- Wikipedian
- Follows
- 274300 UNESCO
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 1.5
- Orbital period
- 1341.591837071705
- Image
- Orbit of 274301 Wikipedia.svg
Show 20 more facts
- site of astronomical discovery
- Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory
- provisional designation
- 1997 RO4
- time of discovery or invention
- 2008-08-25
- orbital inclination
- 6.730513415202207
- argument of periapsis
- 139.5287238466865
- discoverer or inventor
- Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory
- catalog code
- 2007 FK34
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.380571994544175
- apparent magnitude
- 22.2
- asteroid family
- Vesta family
- rotation period
- 1.05
- Commons category
- 274301 Wikipedia
- absolute magnitude
- 16.97
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1477985121022816
- periapsis
- 2.028726995798185
- apoapsis
- 2.732416993290165
- longitude of ascending node
- 183.3061185099374
- mean anomaly
- 259.2763449971189
- time of periapsis
- 2461375.8612037553
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
274301 Wikipedia, provisional designation 2008 QH24, is a Vestian asteroid orbiting in the inner region of the asteroid belt, approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) in diameter. It was discovered on 25 August 2008 by astronomers at the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in northern Ukraine. The asteroid was named after the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in January 2013.
Etymology
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “274301 Wikipedia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.