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
- Raymond Smith Dugan
- Discovery site
- Heidelberg
- Discovery date
- 20 October 1903
- Pronunciation
- / s ɪ l ˈ v eɪ n i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1903 MP
- Observation arc
- 112.35 yr (41035 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.3071 AU (494.74 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.2703 AU (339.63 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.7887 AU (417.18 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.66 yr (1,700.9 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 103.905 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 41.94 / day
- Inclination
- 11.021°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 44.746°
- Argument of perihelion
- 302.430°
- Mean radius
- 24.125 ± 1.15 km
- Synodic rotation period
- 17.962 h (0.7484 d )
- Geometric albedo
- 0.1676 ± 0.017
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 40.078
- Orbital period
- 1705.430746875016
- Image
- 519Sylvania (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 15 more facts
- provisional designation
- A911 HD
- time of discovery or invention
- 1903-10-20
- orbital inclination
- 10.99992753346507
- Commons category
- 519 Sylvania
- albedo
- 0.246
- rotation period
- 17.962
- absolute magnitude
- 9.15
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1838119815459158
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.793554237920926
- periapsis
- 2.28006549789269
- apoapsis
- 3.307042977949163
- longitude of ascending node
- 44.62385231374736
- argument of periapsis
- 303.330347913766
- mean anomaly
- 101.4966967802707
- time of periapsis
- 2460519.678923902
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Article
519 Sylvania is a minor planet orbiting the Sun in the main belt. It was discovered on 20 October 1903 by American astronomer R. S. Dugan at the Heidelberg observatory. The name is Latin for forest lands. 519 Sylvania is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.79 AU with an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.186 and a period of 4.66 yr. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 11.0° to the ecliptic. This S-type (stony) asteroid has an estimated diameter of 48 km and is revolving with a period of 17.962 h.
References