
Image by 12019 on Pixabay · Pixabay License
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 12 inbound references to 224 Oceana, and connects out to Vienna, Pacific Ocean and day.
Vinony files it under Astronomical objects discovered in 1882, Background asteroids and Discoveries by Johann Palisa.
Vinony links it to 43 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
- Johann Palisa
- Discovery date
- 30 March 1882
- Pronunciation
- / oʊ ʃ iː ˈ eɪ n ə / , / oʊ ʃ iː ˈ ɑː n ə /
- Named after
- Pacific Ocean
- Alternative designations
- A882 FA, 1899 EA, 1933 HO
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 117.02 yr (42742 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.75930 AU (412.785 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.53086 AU (378.611 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.64508 AU (395.698 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.30 yr (1571.3 d )
- Average orbital speed
- 18.31 km/s
- Mean anomaly
- 1.46287 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 44.8 / day
- Inclination
- 5.84243°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 352.815°
- Argument of perihelion
- 284.346°
- Dimensions
- 61.82 ± 2.1 km
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Pacific Ocean
- Followed by
- 225 Henrietta
- Follows
- 223 Rosa
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 58.236
- Orbital period
- 1571.287035843881
Show 19 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Johann Palisa
- site of astronomical discovery
- Vienna Observatory
- provisional designation
- A882 FA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1882-03-30
- asteroid spectral type
- M-type asteroid
- orbital inclination
- 5.84482172130668
- albedo
- 0.166
- Commons category
- 224 Oceana
- rotation period
- 9.401
- absolute magnitude
- 8.7
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.04474375565343202
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.645075463915668
- periapsis
- 2.526724853673337
- apoapsis
- 2.763426074157999
- longitude of ascending node
- 352.732734238183
- argument of periapsis
- 281.7312752866358
- mean anomaly
- 62.92472469890856
- time of periapsis
- 2460725.853321796
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
224 Oceana is an asteroid from the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 30 March 1882, in Vienna. It was named after the Pacific Ocean. Based upon its spectrum, it is classified as an M-type asteroid, but is not metallic.
A light curve generated from photometric observations of this asteroid at Pulkovo Observatory show a rotation period of 9.401 ± 0.001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.09 ± 0.01 in magnitude.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “224 Oceana” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.