297 Caecilia

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

9 September 1890

Pronunciation

/ s iː ˈ s ɪ l i ə /

Alternative designations

A890 RA, 1924 RA, 1935 PB, 1947 SB, 1955 BK 1

Minor planet category

Main Belt

Observation arc

115.88 yr (42326 d)

Aphelion

3.6149 AU (540.78 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7117 AU (405.66 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1633 AU (473.22 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.63 yr (2055.0 d )

Mean anomaly

116.75 °

Mean motion

0° 10 30.684 / day

Inclination

7.5526°

Longitude of ascending node

332.104°

Argument of perihelion

354.125°

Dimensions

39.48 ± 1.8 km

Synodic rotation period

4.163 h (0.1735 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1796 ± 0.018

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

298 Baptistina

Follows

296 Phaëtusa

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

39.48

Orbital period

2060.239235962546

Image

297Caecilia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0