21062 Iasky

Iasky
Discovery and designation
Discovered by C. S. Shoemaker and E. M. Shoemaker
Discovery site Palomar
Discovery date May 13, 1991
Designations
MPC designation 21062
Alternate name(s) 1991 JW1
Epoch May 14, 2008
Ap 3.1585440
Peri 2.9340572
Eccentricity 0.0368458
Orbital period 1942.0372024
Mean anomaly 302.00078
Inclination 23.58967
Longitude of ascending node 149.33836
Argument of peri 214.44459
Absolute magnitude (H) 11.7

21062 Iasky (1991 JW1) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on May 13, 1991 by C. S. Shoemaker and E. M. Shoemaker at Palomar.

In his 1994 book Pale Blue Dot, Astronomer Carl Sagan speculated on the nature of 1991JW, saying it "has an orbit very much like the Earth's and is even easier to get to than 4660 Nereus. But its orbit seems too similar to the Earth's for it to be a natural object. Perhaps it's some lost upper stage of the Saturn V Apollo moon rocket.[1]

References

  1. ^ Sagan, Carl (1994). Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. New York: Random House. p. 247. ISBN 0-345-37659-5.

External links