2062 Aten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Discovery
|
|
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eleanor F. Helin |
| Discovery date | January 7, 1976 |
|
Designations
|
|
| Alternative names | 1976 AA |
| Minor planet category |
Aten asteroid |
| Epoch July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5) | |
| Aphelion | 171.038 Gm (1.143 AU) |
| Perihelion | 118.197 Gm (0.790 AU) |
| Semi-major axis | 144.617 Gm (0.967 AU) |
| Eccentricity | 0.183 |
| Orbital period | 347.168 d (0.95 a) |
| Average orbital speed | 30.04 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 225.354° |
| Inclination | 18.932° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 108.635° |
| Argument of perihelion | 147.946° |
|
Physical characteristics
|
|
| Dimensions | 0.9 km |
| Mass | 7.6×1011 kg |
| Mean density | 2 ? g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity | 0.000 25 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.000 48 km/s |
| Rotation period | 1.699 d |
| Albedo | 0.2 |
| Temperature | ~275 K |
| Spectral type | S |
| Absolute magnitude | 16.80 |
2062 Aten (aa'-tən, IPA: /ˈɑtən/[1]) is an asteroid that was discovered at the Palomar Mountain Observatory by Eleanor F. Helin, who is now the principal scientist for the NEAT (Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking) project. It is named after Aten, the Egyptian god of the sun.
Aten was the first asteroid found to have a semi-major orbital axis of less than one astronomical unit. A new category of asteroids was thus created, the Atens, of which 16 are known and numbered, and some 212 awaiting numbering as of July 2004, ranging from (99907) 1989 VA to 2004 MD6.
|
|||||
[edit] References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
