216 Kleopatra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Discovery
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| Discovered by | Johann Palisa |
| Discovery date | April 10, 1880 |
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Designations
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| Alternative names | A905 OA, A910 RA |
| Minor planet category |
Main belt |
| Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5) | |
| Aphelion | 523.049 Gm (3.496 AU) |
| Perihelion | 312.544 Gm (2.089 AU) |
| Semi-major axis | 417.796 Gm (2.793 AU) |
| Eccentricity | 0.252 |
| Orbital period | 1704.704 d (4.67 a) |
| Average orbital speed | 17.82 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 55.259° |
| Inclination | 13.136° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 215.672° |
| Argument of perihelion | 179.099° |
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | 217 × 94 × 81 km |
| Mass | unknown |
| Mean density | 3.5+ |
| Rotation period | 5.385 h |
| Albedo | 0.116 |
| Temperature | unknown |
| Spectral type | M |
| Absolute magnitude | 7.3 |
216 Kleopatra (pronounced /ˌkliːəˈpætrə/) 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 is an unusual object. Its bilobate shape was revealed by adaptive optics on the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla. By bouncing radar signals off the asteroid, a team of astronomers at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico were able to develop a more detailed computer model of its shape, which confirmed the dog-bone like shape. A favored explanation is that Kleopatra is a contact binary: two similarly-sized asteroids that have collided and stuck together instead of breaking apart.
Kleopatra is a relatively large asteroid, measuring 217 × 94 × 81 km. It is believed to be a loosely packed metallic object, based on its radar albedo.
[edit] External links
- Bilobated shape of 216 Kleopatra
- Astronomers Catch Images of Giant Metal Dog Bone Asteroid – NASA article
- An Asteroid for the Dogs
[edit] References
- The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database
- Minor Planet Discovery Circumstances
- Asteroid Lightcurve Data File
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