solar-system-en-blog

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15 Eunomia

15 Eunomia is a very large asteroid in the inner asteroid belt. It is the largest of the stony (S-type) asteroids, and somewhere between the 8th-to-12th-largest main-belt asteroid overall (uncertainty in diameters causes uncertainty in its ranking). It is the largest Eunomian asteroid, and is estimated to contain 1% of the mass of the asteroid belt. Eunomia was discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on July 29, 1851, and named after Eunomia, one of the Horae (Hours), a personification of order and law in Greek mythology. More details Android, Windows

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31 Euphrosyne

31 Euphrosyne is the 12th-largest and the 5th-most-massive asteroid in the asteroid belt, discovered by James Ferguson on September 1, 1854. It was the first asteroid found from North America. It is named after Euphrosyne, one of the Charites in Greek mythology. It is a fairly dark body near the belt's outer edge. Consequently, Euphrosyne is never visible with binoculars, having a maximum magnitude at the best possible opposition of around +10.2, as in November 2011, which is actually fainter than any of the thirty asteroids previously discovered. It is a very little-studied body despite being one of the largest asteroids. It is a C-type asteroid with a primitive surface. Its orbit, however, is quite unusual and bears a considerable resemblance to that of 2 Pallas in its high inclination and eccentricity. Whereas Pallas and Eris—the only larger bodies with comparably tilted orbits—have nodes near perihelion and aphelion, Euphrosyne's perihelion lies at the northernmost point of its orbit. During a rare perihelic opposition Euphrosyne is very high in the sky from northern latitudes, but invisible from such countries as New Zealand and Chile. The mass estimate of Euphrosyne in Baer (2011) makes it apparently the 5th-most-massive asteroid, coming after only the "big four". It also has the highest estimated density, indicating that it is a solid body like the other largest asteroids. However, all large asteroids with comparable densities (16 Psyche and 532 Herculina) have very large uncertainties, so both the mass and density are likely to be lower than the median estimate. Its rotation period is typical for large asteroids. Nothing is known of its axial tilt. Euphrosyne has been studied by radar. This object is the namesake of a family of 323–2066 asteroids that share similar spectral properties and orbital elements; hence they may have arisen from the same collisional event. All members have a relatively high orbital inclination. Asteroid Euphrosyne - time-lapse view by WISE (May 17, 2010) More details Android, Windows

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10199 Chariklo

"Chariklo" redirects here. For the Ancient Greek nymphs, see Chariclo. 10199 Chariklo (/ˈkærᵻkloʊ/ or /kəˈrɪkloʊ/; Ancient Greek: Χαρικλώ; provisional designation: 1997 CU26) is the largest confirmed centaur (minor planet of the outer Solar System). It orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus, grazing the orbit of Uranus. On 26 March 2014, astronomers announced the discovery of two rings (nicknamed Oiapoque and Chuí), around Chariklo by observing a stellar occultation. making it the first known minor planet to have rings. Chariklo was discovered by James V. Scotti of the Spacewatch program on February 15, 1997. Chariklo is named after the nymph Chariclo (Χαρικλώ), the wife of Chiron and the daughter of Apollo. A photometric study in 2001 was unable to find a definite period of rotation. Infrared observations of Chariklo indicate the presence of water ice, which may in fact be located in its rings. Michael Brown's website lists it as possibly a dwarf planet with a measured diameter of 232 km. More details Android, Windows

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107 Camilla

107 Camilla is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. It orbits within the Cybele Group, beyond most main-belt asteroids. It has a very dark surface and primitive carbonaceous composition. It was discovered by N. R. Pogson on November 17, 1868, and named after Camilla, Queen of the Volsci in Roman mythology. 10µ radiometric data collected from Kitt Peak in 1975 gave a diameter estimate of 209 km. Lightcurve analysis indicates that Camilla's pole most likely points towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (+51°, 72°) with a 10° uncertainty, which gives it an axial tilt of 29°. More details Android, Windows

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(79983) 1999 DF9

(79983) 1999 DF9 is a trans-Neptunian object of the Kuiper belt, classified as a non-resonant cubewano, that measures approximately 265 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 February 1999, by American and British astronomers Jane Luu, Chad Trujillo and David C. Jewitt at the U.S. Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. The carbonaceous minor planet is a classical Kuiper belt object ("cubewano"), which are not in an orbital resonance with Neptune and do not cross the giant planet's orbit. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 39.8–53.7 AU once every 319 years and 9 months (116,804 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 10° with respect to the ecliptic. This makes it a relatively eccentric body for a classical Kuiper belt object, which typically have low-eccentricities of 0.10 or less. As no precoveries were taken, the minor planet's observation arc begins with its discovery observation in 1999. In 2006, a rotational light-curve was published for this minor planet from photometric observations by Portuguese astronomer Pedro Lacerda and the discovering astronomer Janue Luu. The light-curve gave a relatively short rotation period of 7000665000000000000♠6.65 hours with a brightness variation of 0.40 magnitude (U=2). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a low albedo of 0.10 and calculates a diameter of 265.2 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 6.0. Due to its small size, it is unlikely to be classified as a dwarf planet. More details Android, Windows

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Hyperion (moon)

Hyperion (/haɪˈpɪəriən/;[b] Greek: Ὑπερίων), also known as Saturn VII (7), is a moon of Saturn discovered by William Cranch Bond, George Phillips Bond and William Lassell in 1848. It is distinguished by its irregular shape, its chaotic rotation, and its unexplained sponge-like appearance. It was the first non-round moon to be discovered. More details Android, Windows

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65 Cybele

65 Cybele is one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System and is located in the outer asteroid belt. It gives its name to the Cybele family of asteroids that orbit outward from the Sun from the 2:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter. Cybele is a X-type asteroid, meaning that it is dark in color and carbonaceous[clarification needed] in composition. It was discovered in 1861 by Ernst Tempel and named after Cybele, the earth goddess. More details Android, Windows

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(26308) 1998 SM165

(26308) 1998 SM165, also written as (26308) 1998 SM165, is a binary trans-Neptunian object (TNO) that resides in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered on September 16, 1998, by Nichole Danzl. It is in a 1:2 orbital resonance with the planet Neptune. More details Android, Windows

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87 Sylvia

87 Sylvia is the 8th-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. It is a member of the Cybele group located beyond the core of the belt (see minor-planet groups). Sylvia is the first asteroid known to possess more than one moon. More details Android, Windows

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(47171) 1999 TC36

(47171) 1999 TC36 (also written: (47171) 1999 TC36) is a system comprising three trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). It was discovered in 1999, by Eric P. Rubenstein and Louis-Gregory Strolger during an observing run at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO). Dr. Rubenstein was searching images taken by Dr. Strolger as part of the Low-Z Supernova Search program. It is classified as a plutino with a 2:3 mean-motion resonance with Neptune, and, currently only being 30.5 AU from the Sun, is among the brighter TNOs. It reached perihelion in July 2015. More details Android, Windows

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52 Europa

For the moon of Jupiter, see Europa (moon). For other uses, see Europa (disambiguation). 52 Europa is the 6th-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt, having an average diameter of around 315 km. It is not round but is shaped like a triaxial ellipsoid of approximately 380x330x250 km. It was discovered on February 4, 1858, by Hermann Goldschmidt from his balcony in Paris. It is named after Europa, one of Zeus's conquests in Greek mythology, a name it shares with Jupiter's moon Europa. More details Android, Windows

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(40314) 1999 KR16

(40314) 1999 KR16, also written as (40314) 1999 KR16, is a carbonaceous and eccentric minor planet, classified as trans-Neptunian object (TNO), about 250 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by French female astronomer Audrey Delsanti and Oliver Hainaut at ESO's La Silla Observatory, Chile, on 16 May 1999. The C-type minor planet orbits the Sun at a distance of 34–64 AU once every 342 years and 1 month (124,953 days). Its orbit shows a high eccentricity of 0.31 and is notably tilted by 25 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. It has a rotation period of 6 to 12 hours and an albedo of 0.20. More details Android, Windows

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(79978) 1999 CC158

(79978) 1999 CC158, also written as (79978) 1999 CC158, is a trans-Neptunian object orbiting in the Kuiper belt of the Solar System. It was discovered on 15 February 1999 at the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. It has a 5:12 resonance with Neptune. More details Android, Windows

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79360 Sila–Nunam

79360 Sila–Nunam is a double cold classical Kuiper belt object (cubewano) with components of almost equal size, orbiting beyond Neptune in the Solar System. The name of the system is the combined names of the two bodies, Sila and Nunam. More details Android, Windows

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Hiʻiaka (moon)

Hiʻiaka is the larger, outer moon of the dwarf planet Haumea. More details Android, Windows

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704 Interamnia

One of the first photographic plates of 704 Interamnia obtained by the Italian astronomer Vincenzo Cerulli form the Observatory of Teramo (Italy). The image was taken in Oct. 1910; the path of the asteroid is shown in the zoom. 704 Interamnia is a very large asteroid, with an estimated diameter of 350 kilometres. Its mean distance from the Sun is 3.067 (AU). It was discovered on October 2, 1910 by Vincenzo Cerulli, and named after the Latin name for Teramo, Italy, where Cerulli worked. It is probably the fifth-most-massive asteroid after Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea, with a mass estimated to be 1.2% of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. More details Android, Windows

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511 Davida

511 Davida is a large C-type asteroid in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by R. S. Dugan in 1903. It is one of the ten most-massive asteroids, and the 7th-largest asteroid. It is approximately 270–310 km in diameter and comprises an estimated 1.5% of the total mass of the asteroid belt. It is a C-type asteroid, which means that it is dark in colouring with a carbonaceous chondrite composition. Davida is one of the few main-belt asteroids whose shape has been determined by ground-based visual observation. From 2002 to 2007, astronomers at the Keck Observatory used the Keck II telescope, which is fitted with adaptive optics, to photograph Davida. The asteroid is not a dwarf planet: there are at least two promontories and at least one flat facet with 15-km deviations from a best-fit ellipsoid. The facet is presumably a 150-km global-scale crater like the ones seen on 253 Mathilde. Conrad et al. (2007) show that craters of this size "can be expected from the impactor size distribution, without likelihood of catastrophic disruption of Davida." Davida is named after David Peck Todd, an astronomy professor at Amherst College. More details Android, Windows