5335 Damocles

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**5335 Damocles**
Discovery ^A

Discoverer	Robert H. McNaught
Discovery date	February 18, 1991
Alternate designations ^B	1991 DA
Category	Damocloid
Orbital elements ^C
Epoch January 1, 2006 (JD 2453736.5 )
Eccentricity (e)	0.87
Semi-major axis (a)	11.84 AU
Perihelion (q)	1.58 AU
Aphelion (Q)	22.10 AU
Orbital period (P)	14880.90 d, 40.74 a
Mean orbital speed	6.67 km/s
Inclination (i)	61.95 °
Longitude of the ascending node (Ω)	.02°
Argument of perihelion (ω)	191.25°
Mean anomaly (M)	133.07°
Physical characteristics ^D
Dimensions	~ 10 km
Mass
Density
Surface gravity
Escape velocity
Rotation period	10.2 h
Spectral class	S
Absolute magnitude	13.3
Albedo (geometric)
Mean surface temperature
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5335 Damocles is the archetype of the Damocloids, asteroids that are inactive nuclei of Halley Family and long period comets. It was discovered in 1991 and named after Damocles, a figure of Greek legend.

When Damocles was discovered, in 1991 by Robert H. McNaught, it was found to be on an orbit completerly different from all others known. Damocles' orbit reached from inside the aphelion of Mars to as far as Uranus. It seemed to be in transition from a near-circular outer solar system orbit to an eccentric orbit taking it to the inner solar system. ^[1] Duncan Steel, Gerhard Hahn, Mark Bailey, and David Asher carried out projections of its long term dynamical evolution, and found a good probability that it will become an Earth-crosser asteroid, and may spend a quarter of its life in such an orbit. Damocles will have a stable orbit for tens of thousands or years before and after the present, because its highly inclined orbit does not take it near Jupiter or Saturn.

[edit] Notes

^ Steel, D. "Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets", page 127-8. Wiley & Sons, 1995

[edit] References

See also: List of asteroids

v • d • e Small Solar System bodies
Vulcanoids \| Near-Earth asteroids \| Main belt \| Jupiter Trojans \| Centaurs \| Damocloids \| Comets \| Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud)
For other objects and regions, see: asteroid groups and families, binary asteroids, asteroid moons and the Solar system For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names.