File:279_Thule.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
- Johann Palisa
- Discovery date
- 25 October 1888
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ θj uː l iː /
- Alternative designations
- A888 UA, 1920 GA, 1923 RA, 1927 EC, 1954 FF
- Minor planet category
- Asteroid belt ( Thule )
- Adjectives
- Thulean / ˈ θj uː l i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 125.34 yr (45780 d)
- Aphelion
- 4.4617880 AU (667.47398 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 4.2367660 AU (633.81117 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 4.3492770 AU (650.64258 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 9.07 yr (3313.0 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 62.75874 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 6 31.184 / day
- Inclination
- 2.323774°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 72.46791°
- Argument of perihelion
- 42.36797°
- Dimensions
- 115 ± 12 km , 119 ± 13 km
- Synodic rotation period
- 23.896 h (0.9957 d )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 126.59
- Orbital period
- 3220.997983186042
- Image
- Орбита астероидов 279.png
Show 15 more facts
- provisional designation
- A888 UA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1888-10-25
- orbital inclination
- 2.334774613501659
- Commons category
- 279 Thule
- albedo
- 0.0412
- rotation period
- 23.896
- absolute magnitude
- 8.58
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.04402798342965802
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 4.268363040090669
- periapsis
- 4.080435622889793
- apoapsis
- 4.456290457291546
- longitude of ascending node
- 71.88482095067765
- argument of periapsis
- 29.04750558554752
- mean anomaly
- 94.45934390527896
- time of periapsis
- 2460155.3517883
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
279 Thule is a large asteroid from the outer asteroid belt. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 25 October 1888 in Vienna. This body was named after the ultimate northern land of Thule, according to ancient Greek and Roman lore.
This asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.35 au (651 Gm), with an eccentricity of 0.026 and an orbital period of 9.07 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 2.32° to the plane of the ecliptic. Thule was the first asteroid discovered with a semi-major axis greater than 4 AU. It is the only large asteroid with a 4:3 resonance orbital with Jupiter that also has a small eccentricity and orbital inclination.