522 Helga

522 Helga
Discovery
Discovered by Max Wolf
Discovery site Heidelberg
Discovery date January 10, 1904
Designations
1904 NC
Orbital characteristics
Epoch November 13, 1989 (JDCT 2447843.5)
Aphelion 3.910 AU
Perihelion 3.353 AU
3.632 AU
Eccentricity 0.077
6.921 a
-112.151°
Inclination 4.446°
117.518°
249.301°

    522 Helga (also known as 1904 NC) is an asteroid (minor planet) orbiting the Sun discovered in 1904 by Max Wolf in Heidelberg. Helga is notable for being the first such object to be shown to be in a stable but chaotic orbit in resonance with Jupiter, its Lyapunov time being relatively short, at 6,900 yr. Despite this, its orbit appears to be stable, as the eccentricity and precession rates are such that it avoids close encounters with Jupiter.[1]

    522 Helga was "named by Lt. Th. Lassen, orbit computer" according to Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets[2] (note that computer does not refer to a personal computer, i.e. a machine, but rather to a person actually doing the necessary calculations).

    References