File:471Papagena_(Lightcurve_Inversion).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
- Max Wolf
- Discovery date
- 7 June 1901
- Pronunciation
- German: [ paːpaˈɡeːna ]
- Alternative designations
- 1901 GN
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 114.84 yr (41944 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.5566 AU (532.06 Gm ) (Q)
- Perihelion
- 2.2193 AU (332.00 Gm) (q)
- Semi major axis
- 2.8879 AU (432.02 Gm) (a)
- Eccentricity
- 0.23154 (e)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.91 yr (1792.6 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 46.684 ° (M)
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 2.988 / day (n)
- Inclination
- 14.976° (i)
- Longitude of ascending node
- 83.999° (Ω)
- Argument of perihelion
- 314.13° (ω)
- Mean diameter
- 148.128 ± 3.880 km , 124.55 ± 8.77 km
- Mass
- (3.05 ± 1.73) × 10 kg , (3.791 ± 1.364/0.677) × 10 kg
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 148.128
- Mass
- 2530000000000000000
- Orbital period
- 1793.20521296876
- Image
- 471Papagena (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 19 more facts
- provisional designation
- A901 LA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1901-06-07
- orbital inclination
- 15.0190422413604
- albedo
- 0.164
- apparent magnitude
- 11.200
- rotation period
- 7.113
- surface gravity
- 0.0375
- density
- 2
- catalog code
- A911 MB
- Commons category
- 471 Papagena
- absolute magnitude
- 6.33
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.2290647534697144
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.888602019676308
- periapsis
- 2.226925110167036
- apoapsis
- 3.55027892918558
- longitude of ascending node
- 83.77122752910873
- argument of periapsis
- 315.9030847696806
- mean anomaly
- 6.658378403026328
- time of periapsis
- 2460967.3337809383
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Article
471 Papagena is an asteroid that was discovered by German astronomer Max Wolf on 7 June 1901. Its provisional name was 1901 GN.
Papagena comes to a favorable near-opposition apparent magnitude of better than magnitude 9.8 every five years. On 30 September 2010, it was magnitude 9.68 and it will get brighter every five years until 12 December 2035, when this late-to-be-discovered asteroid will be at magnitude 9.28. It is named for a character in Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute.