94 Aurora

Also known as (94) Aurora, Aurora

main-belt asteroid

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: James Craig Watson
Discovery date: 6 September 1867
Pronunciation: / ə ˈ r ɔːr ə , ɒ -/
Named after: Aurōra
Minor planet category: Main belt
Adjectives: Aurorean / ɔː ˈ r ɔːr i ə n /
Observation arc: 143.72 yr (52494 d)
Aphelion: 3.45175 AU (516.374 Gm )
Perihelion: 2.86831 AU (429.093 Gm)
Semi major axis: 3.16003 AU (472.734 Gm)
Orbital period sidereal: 5.62 yr (2051.8 d )
Average orbital speed: 16.73 km/s
Mean anomaly: 132.718 °
Mean motion: 0° 10 31.638 / day
Inclination: 7.97343°
Longitude of ascending node: 2.59859°
Argument of perihelion: 60.8260°
Dimensions: 225 × 173 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter: 204.89
Orbital period: 2048.229493400645
Image: 94Aurora (Lightcurve Inversion).png

Show 15 more facts

provisional designation: A867 RA
time of discovery or invention: 1867-09-06
orbital inclination: 7.969781979986331
albedo: 0.0395
Commons category: 94 Aurora
rotation period: 7.22
absolute magnitude: 7.72
orbital eccentricity: 0.09638484422090386
semi-major axis of an orbit: 3.156361899674338
periapsis: 2.85213644966943
apoapsis: 3.460587349679245
longitude of ascending node: 2.518052144635324
argument of periapsis: 60.5269221964474
mean anomaly: 10.64457509618258
time of periapsis: 2460939.937409287

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~1 min read

Article

94 Aurora is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. With an albedo of only 0.04, it is darker than soot, and has a primitive composition consisting of carbonaceous material. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on September 6, 1867, in Ann Arbor, and named after Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn.

This asteroid is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.62 years and a relatively low eccentricity of 0.092. It is spinning with a rotation period of 7.22 hours. Observations of an occultation using nine chords indicate an oval outline of 225×173 km. The asteroid's pole of rotation lies just 4–16° away from the plane of the ecliptic.