File:107Camilla_(Lightcurve_Inversion).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
- N. R. Pogson
- Discovery site
- Madras Obs.
- Discovery date
- 17 November 1868
- Pronunciation
- / k ə ˈ m ɪ l ə /
- Named after
- Camilla ( Roman mythology )
- Alternative designations
- A868 WA, 1893 QA, 1938 OG, 1949 HD 1
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( outer ) , Sylvia · Cybele
- Adjectives
- Camillian or Camillean, / k ə ˈ m ɪ l i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 149.17 yr (54,485 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.7202 AU
- Perihelion
- 3.2622 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.4912 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 6.52 yr (2,383 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 265.91 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 9 3.96 / day
- Inclination
- 10.001°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 172.61°
- Argument of perihelion
- 306.77°
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Camilla
- Followed by
- 108 Hecuba
- Follows
- 106 Dione
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- 210.37
- Orbital period
- 2384.587667697524
- Image
- 107Camilla (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 21 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- N. R. Pogson
- site of astronomical discovery
- Madras Observatory
- provisional designation
- A868 WA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1868-11-17
- asteroid spectral type
- X-type asteroid
- albedo
- 0.059
- apparent magnitude
- 11.53
- Commons category
- 107 Camilla
- rotation period
- 4.844
- density
- 1.28
- absolute magnitude
- 7.11
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.06645136804174642
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 3.493091091489024
- periapsis
- 3.260970409765141
- apoapsis
- 3.725211773212907
- orbital inclination
- 9.998659771993054
- longitude of ascending node
- 172.5062650621379
- argument of periapsis
- 303.7382555913762
- mean anomaly
- 332.5445461706495
- time of periapsis
- 2461182.3609350347
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
a lightcurve model of the asteroid on the top and an Image of the asteroid on the bottom. 107 Camilla is one of the largest asteroids from the outermost edge of the asteroid belt, approximately 250 kilometers (160 miles) in diameter. It is a member of the Sylvia family and located within the Cybele group. It was discovered on 17 November 1868, by English astronomer Norman Pogson at Madras Observatory, India, and named after Camilla, Queen of the Volsci in Roman mythology. The X-type asteroid is a rare triple asteroid with two minor-planet moons discovered in 2001 and 2016, respectively. It is elongated in shape and has a short rotation period of 4.8 hours.
Physical characteristics
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “107 Camilla” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.