2 Pallas

Also known as (2) Pallas, Pallas

large asteroid of the main asteroid belt

AI overview

2 Pallas is a large asteroid located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It matters because it is one of the largest asteroids in our solar system and helps scientists understand the composition and history of the early solar system.

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

Diameter: 513.0
Mass: 211
Orbital period: 1683.839278437529
Image: Potw1749a Pallas crop.png

Show 18 more facts

Commons category: 2 Pallas
time of discovery or invention: 1802-03-28
Unicode character: ⚴
Commons gallery: (2) Pallas
density: 2.89
rotation period: 7.8132214
albedo: 0.155
provisional designation: A802 FA
absolute magnitude: 4.11
orbital eccentricity: 0.2306429787720982
semi-major axis of an orbit: 2.76992582509809
periapsis: 2.131061881819705
apoapsis: 3.408789768376475
orbital inclination: 34.9283268715924
longitude of ascending node: 172.8885963396175
argument of periapsis: 310.9333840231888
mean anomaly: 211.5297777960524
time of periapsis: 2461694.944421737

Sources (8)

via Wikidata · CC0

~16 min read

Article

Pallas (minor-planet designation: 2 Pallas) is the third-largest asteroid in the Solar System by volume and mass. It is the second asteroid to have been discovered, after Ceres, and is likely a remnant protoplanet. Like Ceres, it is believed to have a mineral composition similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, though significantly less hydrated than Ceres. It is 79% the mass of Vesta and 22% the mass of Ceres, constituting an estimated 7% of the total mass of the asteroid belt. Its estimated volume is equivalent to a sphere 507 to 515 kilometers (315 to 320 mi) in diameter, 90–95% the volume of Vesta.

During the planetary formation era of the Solar System, objects grew in size through an accretion process to approximately the size of Pallas. Most of these protoplanets were incorporated into the growth of larger bodies, which became the planets, whereas others were ejected by the planets or destroyed in collisions with each other. Pallas, Vesta and Ceres appear to be the only intact bodies from this early stage of planetary formation to survive within the orbit of Neptune.