File:178Belisana_(Lightcurve_Inversion).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, 178 Belisana is referenced by 9 other articles, and connects out to asteroid spectral type, Paul Herget and asteroid belt.
Vinony files it under Astronomical objects discovered in 1877, Background asteroids and Discoveries by Johann Palisa.
Its subject is documented across 45 Wikipedia language editions.
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. Palisa
- Discovery site
- Austrian Naval Obs.
- Discovery date
- 6 November 1877
- Pronunciation
- / b ɛ ˈ l ɪ s ə n ə /
- Named after
- Bēlēsama , (Celtic mythology)
- Alternative designations
- A877 VB; 1899 LE;, 1904 UA; 1935 UA 1
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( inner ) , background
- Observation arc
- 132.36 yr (48,345 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.5667 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.3536 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.4601 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.86 yr (1,409 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 272.93 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 15 19.44 / day
- Inclination
- 1.8950°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 51.109°
- Argument of perihelion
- 212.67°
- Mean diameter
- 35.50 km (derived) , 35.81 ± 0.9 km , 38.26 ± 1.12 km , 42.09 ± 11.05 km
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Belisama
- Followed by
- 179 Klytaemnestra
- Follows
- 177 Irma
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 35.81
- Orbital period
- 1409.426937983554
- Image
- 178Belisana (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 20 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Johann Palisa
- site of astronomical discovery
- Pula Observatory
- provisional designation
- A877 VB
- time of discovery or invention
- 1877-11-06
- asteroid spectral type
- S-type asteroid
- albedo
- 0.2438
- described by source
- Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
- Commons category
- 178 Belisana
- rotation period
- 12.323
- absolute magnitude
- 9.5
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.0424134571102949
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.460156644399516
- periapsis
- 2.35581289607767
- apoapsis
- 2.564500392721362
- orbital inclination
- 1.890701187744404
- longitude of ascending node
- 51.04518492285742
- argument of periapsis
- 214.4570186352574
- mean anomaly
- 266.0360302520273
- time of periapsis
- 2461368.375972674
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
178 Belisana is a stony background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 38 kilometers (24 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 6 November 1877, by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at the Austrian Naval Observatory in today's Croatia. The S-type asteroid has a rotation period of 12.32 hours and a rather spherical shape. It was named after the Celtic goddess Belisama (Belisana).
Orbit and classification
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “178 Belisana” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.