File:12_Victoria_VLT_2018-11-08.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
"12 Victoria" is a large asteroid that orbits in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was one of the earliest asteroids discovered and remains notable as one of the larger objects in that region of space.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
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
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Victoria
- Followed by
- 13 Egeria
- Follows
- 11 Parthenope
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 115.087
- Orbital period
- 1302.281683094443
- Image
- 12Victoria (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 20 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- John Russell Hind
- site of astronomical discovery
- Bishop Observatory
- time of discovery or invention
- 1850-09-13
- asteroid spectral type
- L-type asteroid
- orbital inclination
- 8.374034560714689
- rotation period
- 8.6599
- density
- 2
- albedo
- 0.163
- Commons category
- 12 Victoria
- provisional designation
- A850 RA
- absolute magnitude
- 7.29
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.2199307008723753
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.333839594347856
- periapsis
- 1.820556616639232
- apoapsis
- 2.847122572056481
- longitude of ascending node
- 235.35281401
- argument of periapsis
- 69.54627522668365
- mean anomaly
- 76.93596932562313
- time of periapsis
- 2460722.188045489
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
12 Victoria is a large asteroid located in the main belt. It was the twelfth known asteroid, discovered on 13 September 1850 by English astronomer John R. Hind from George Bishop's Observatory in London, England. It was named after Victoria, the ancient Roman goddess of victory. The name's coincidence with that of then-reigning Queen Victoria led to an extended controversy, with American astronomers objecting to its use. In place of Victoria, the alternative name Clio was used in American publications until the late 19th century.
Victoria is around 116 kilometres (72 mi) in diameter and irregular in shape. It orbits the Sun at an average distance of 2.33 astronomical units on a 3.57 year long orbit. It is thought to be a stony S-type asteroid, and it rotates once every 8.66 hours.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “12 Victoria” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.