File:000163-asteroid_shape_model_(163)_Erigone.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
- J. Perrotin
- Discovery site
- Toulouse
- Discovery date
- 26 April 1876
- Pronunciation
- / ɪ ˈ r ɪ ɡ ə n iː /
- Named after
- Erigone
- Alternative designations
- A876 HC; 1892 RA;, 1957 OT; 2017 YH 23
- Minor planet category
- Main belt ( Erigone )
- Adjectives
- Erigonian / ɛ r ɪ ˈ ɡ oʊ n i ə n / Erigonean / ɛ r ɪ ɡ ə ˈ n iː ə n /
- Observation arc
- 123.56 yr (45131 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.8188 AU (421.69 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.9161 AU (286.64 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.3675 AU (354.17 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.64 yr (1330.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 280.031 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 16 14.052 / day
- Inclination
- 4.8148°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 160.166°
- Argument of perihelion
- 298.260°
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
163 Erigone is an asteroid from the asteroid belt and the namesake of the Erigone family of asteroids that share similar orbital elements and properties. It was discovered by French astronomer Henri Joseph Perrotin on April 26, 1876, and named after one of the two Erigones in Greek mythology. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.37 AU with a period of 3.643 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.19. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 4.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.
Photometric measurements taken in 2014 were used to construct a lightcurve that demonstrated a rotation period of 16.136±0.001 h with an amplitude of 0.32±0.02 in magnitude. Erigone is a relatively large and dark asteroid with an estimated size of 73 km. Based upon its spectrum, it is classified as a C-type asteroid, which indicates that it probably has a carbonaceous composition. It is the largest member of the eponymously named Erigone collisional family.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “163 Erigone” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.