216 Kleopatra
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| Discovery A (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html) | |
|---|---|
| Discoverer | Johann Palisa |
| Discovery date | April 10, 1880 |
| Alternate designations | A905 OA, A910 RA B (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPDes.html) |
| Category | Main belt |
| Orbital elements C (http://asteroid.lowell.edu/) Epoch 30 January, 2005 (JD 2453400.5) | |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.252 |
| Semi-major axis (a) | 417.796 Gm (2.793 AU) |
| Perihelion (q) | 312.544 Gm (2.089 AU) |
| Aphelion (Q) | 523.049 Gm (3.496 AU) |
| Orbital period (P) | 1704.704 d (4.67 a) |
| Mean orbital speed | 17.82 km/s |
| Inclination (i) | 13.136° |
| Longitude of the ascending node (Ω) | 215.672° |
| Argument of perihelion (ω) | 179.099° |
| Mean anomaly (M) | 55.259° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 217 × 94 × 81 km |
| Mass | unknown |
| Density | unknown |
| Surface gravity | unknown |
| Escape velocity | unknown |
| Rotation period | 5.385 h |
| Spectral class | M |
| Absolute magnitude | 7.3 |
| Albedo | 0.116 |
| Mean surface temperature | unknown |
216 Kleopatra is a Main belt asteroid that was discovered by Johann Palisa on April 10, 1880 in Pola. It is named after Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt.
Kleopatra.jpg
Kleopatra has one of the most bizarre shapes in the solar system. By bouncing radar signals off the asteroid, a team of astronomers at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico were able to develop a computer model of its shape, and discovered that it looks like a dog's bone. The best explanation is that two similarly sized asteroids that have collided and stuck together instead of breaking apart. Another such binary may be 624 Hektor.
Kleopatra is a relatively large asteroid, measuring 217 × 94 × 81 km. In composition it is an M-type asteroid, meaning that it is metallic, composed of nickel-iron. It is believed to be a loosely packed, porous object.
External links
- Astronomers Catch Images of Giant Metal Dog Bone Asteroid (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/news/kleopatra_pr_20000504.html) – NASA article
- An Asteroid for the Dogs (http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/News/2000/News-Kleopatra.asp)
References
- The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database (ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html)
- Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html)
- Asteroid Lightcurve Data File (http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/parallax/phot/LCSUMPUB.TXT)
| The minor planets |
| Vulcanoids | Main belt | Groups and families | Near-Earth objects | Jupiter Trojans |
| Centaurs | Trans-Neptunians | Damocloids | Comets | Kuiper belt | Oort cloud |
| (For other objects and regions, see: Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons and the Solar system) |
| (For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. For pronunciation, see: Pronunciation of asteroid names.) |