File:000104-asteroid_shape_model_(104)_Klymene.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Picture of the Day · NASA
Pathfinder on Mars
2026-07-04
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- James Craig Watson
- Discovery date
- 13 September 1868
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ k l ɪ m ɪ n iː /
- Alternative designations
- A868 RB, 1893 FA, 1951 OE, 1968 OS
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 130.58 yr (47693 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.6499 AU (546.02 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.65525 AU (397.220 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.15256 AU (471.616 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.60 yr (2044.5 d )
- Average orbital speed
- 16.67 km/s
- Mean anomaly
- 101.498 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 10 33.888 / day
- Inclination
- 2.7905°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 41.698°
- Argument of perihelion
- 32.134°
- Earth moid
- 1.66901 AU (249.680 Gm)
- Jupiter moid
- 1.63907 AU (245.201 Gm)
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
104 Klymene is a large, dark Themistian asteroid that was discovered by J. C. Watson on September 13, 1868, and named after one of the many Clymenes in Greek mythology. It is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.60 years and an eccentricity of 0.16. The orbital plane is inclined by 2.8° to the plane of the ecliptic. It is classified as a C-type asteroid, indicating it probably has a carbonaceous composition. The spectra indicates the presence of aqueous-altered minerals on the surface based upon a sharp feature at a wavelength of 3 μm, and, as of 2015, is the only member of the Themis family found to show this absorption.
Based upon measurements made using adaptive optics at the W. M. Keck Observatory, this object may have a bi-lobed shape with a length of 163 ± 3 km and width of 103 ± 5 km, for an average dimension of 133 km. This asteroid is located near the region of the Themis family but itself considered a background asteroid using HCM-analysis. It is listed as a member of the Hecuba group of asteroids that orbit near the 2:1 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “104 Klymene” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.