File:Modelled_shape_of_588_Achilles_from_its_light_curve.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
588 Achilles is a large asteroid that shares Jupiter's orbit around the Sun, belonging to a special group of asteroids called Jupiter trojans. Scientists study it and similar objects because they provide clues about the early formation and structure of our 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
Key facts
- Discovered by
- M. F. Wolf
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg Obs.
- Discovery date
- 22 February 1906
- Pronunciation
- / ə ˈ k ɪ l iː z /
- Named after
- Achilles (Greek mythology)
- Alternative designations
- 1906 TG
- Minor planet category
- Jupiter trojan , Greek · background
- Adjectives
- Achillean / ˌ æ k ɪ ˈ l iː ə n , ə ˈ k ɪ l i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 112.25 yr (41,000 d)
- Aphelion
- 5.9714 AU
- Perihelion
- 4.4467 AU
- Semi major axis
- 5.2091 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 11.89 yr (4,343 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 205.11 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 4 58.44 / day
- Inclination
- 10.318°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 316.54°
- Argument of perihelion
- 133.50°
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Achilles
- Followed by
- Q155708
- Follows
- Q155698
- Parent body
- Sun
- Diameter
- 130.099
- Mass
- 2600000000000000000
- Orbital period
- 4349.505637305772
- Image
- Orbita aquiles.jpg
Show 21 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Max Wolf
- site of astronomical discovery
- Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory
- provisional designation
- A906 DN
- time of discovery or invention
- 1906-02-22
- orbital inclination
- 10.31547479937147
- albedo
- 0.043
- asteroid spectral type
- D-type asteroid
- rotation period
- 7.306
- density
- 2
- surface gravity
- 0.0379
- Commons category
- 588 Achilles
- absolute magnitude
- 8.22
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1483066515188765
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 5.214679813369782
- periapsis
- 4.44130811150583
- apoapsis
- 5.988051515233733
- longitude of ascending node
- 316.5331285310342
- argument of periapsis
- 134.2154697588767
- mean anomaly
- 76.84003519453988
- time of periapsis
- 2460072.121760418
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
588 Achilles is a large Jupiter trojan asteroid of the Greek camp. Achilles was the first Jupiter trojan to be discovered, and was discovered by Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory in 1906. Wolf named the minor planet after the legendary hero Achilles from Greek mythology. The dark D-type asteroid measures approximately 133 kilometers (83 miles) in diameter which makes it one of the 10 largest Jupiter trojans. It has a rotation period of 7.3 hours and possibly a spherical shape.
Discovery
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “588 Achilles” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.