2101 Adonis

2101 Adonis
Discovery
Discovered by Eugene Delporte
Discovery date February 12, 1936
Designations
Named after
 Adonis
1936 CA
Apollo, Mars crosser
Orbital characteristics
Epoch October 22, 2004 (JD 2453300.5)
Aphelion 3.307 AU (494.673 Gm)
Perihelion 0.441 AU (65.906 Gm)
1.874 AU (280.289 Gm)
Eccentricity 0.765
2.56 a (936.742 d)
18.10 km/s
307.406°
Inclination 1.349°
350.580°
42.438°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 0.5–1.2 km[1]
Mass 0.13–1.8×1012 kg
0.0001–0.0003 m/s²
0.0003–0.0006 km/s
Albedo 0.20–0.04[1]
Temperature 197–207 K
18.7

    2101 Adonis was one of the first near-Earth asteroids to be discovered. It was discovered by Eugene Delporte in 1936 and named after Adonis, the beautiful youth with whom the goddess Venus fell in love. 2101 Adonis is believed to measure approximately 1 km in diameter.

    In the close approach of February 1936 that led to its initial discovery, the asteroid was observed for two months, but not enough observations could be made to calculate an orbit, and Adonis was a lost asteroid until 1977 when it was rediscovered by Charles T. Kowal.

    Adonis was the second Apollo asteroid to be discovered (after 1862 Apollo itself). It may be an extinct comet, and may be the source of some meteor showers.[2]

    Adonis makes close approaches to Venus, Earth, and Mars.[3] It comes within 30 Gm of the Earth six times in the 21st century, the nearest being 0.03569 AU (5,339,000 km; 3,318,000 mi) on 7 February 2036.[4]

    Adonis in fiction

    See Asteroids in fiction.

    In 1954, in The Adventures of Tintin comic Explorers on the Moon, a drunken Captain Haddock almost becomes a satellite of the asteroid, improbably depicted passing between the Earth and the Moon.

    In the comic album "Suske en Wiske, De Wolkeneters" they pass Adonis on their way to Mars and dump their garbage on it.

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://newton.dm.unipi.it/neodys/index.php?pc=1.1.9&n=2101
    2. ↑ Babadzhanov, P. B. (2003). "Meteor showers associated with the near-Earth asteroid (2101) Adonis". Astronomy and Astrophysics 397 (1): 319–323. Bibcode:2003A&A...397..319B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20021506.
    3. ↑ "JPL Close-Approach Data: 2101 Adonis (1936 CA)" (2008-03-10 last obs). Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    4. ↑ "NEODys (2101) Adonis". Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa, ITALY. Retrieved 2009-05-05.

    External links