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Eric Walter Elst
Eric Walter Elst (30 November 1936 – 2 January 2022) was a Belgian astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle and a prolific discoverer of asteroids. The Minor Planet Center ranks him among the top 10 discoverers of minor planets with thousands of discoveries made at European Southern Observatory, ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile and at the Rozhen Observatory in Bulgaria during 1986–2009. The minor planet 3936 Elst, a stony Vesta family, Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, roughly 6 kilometers in diameter, was named in his honour. Discoveries Elst is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 3866 numbered minor planets made between 1986 and 2009. Notable discoveries include 4486 Mithra, a near-Earth object, near-Earth and Apollo asteroid, 7968 Elst-Pizarro, which is classified as both asteroid and comet, and more than 25 Jupiter trojans. His discoveries also include: * binary asteroids such as 4492 Debu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor planet'', but that year's meeting reclassified minor planets and comets into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies (SSSBs).Press release, IAU 2006 General Assembly: Result of the IAU Resolution votes International Astronomical Union, August 24, 2006. Accessed May 5, 2008. Minor planets include asteroids ( |
Jupiter Trojan
The Jupiter trojans, commonly called trojan asteroids or simply trojans, are a large group of asteroids that share the planet Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. Relative to Jupiter, each trojan librates around one of Jupiter's stable Lagrange points: either ', existing 60° ahead of the planet in its orbit, or ', 60° behind. Jupiter trojans are distributed in two elongated, curved regions around these Lagrangian points with an average semi-major axis of about 5.2 AU. The first Jupiter trojan discovered, 588 Achilles, was spotted in 1906 by German astronomer Max Wolf. More than 9,800 Jupiter trojans have been found . By convention, they are each named from Greek mythology after a figure of the Trojan War, hence the name "trojan". The total number of Jupiter trojans larger than 1 km in diameter is believed to be about , approximately equal to the number of asteroids larger than 1 km in the asteroid belt. Like main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans form families. , man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
12696 Camus
12696 Camus, provisional designation ', is a carbonaceous background asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 26 September 1989, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile, and named after French Nobel Prize laureate in literature Albert Camus. Classification and orbit ''Camus'' is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.2–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 3 months (1,551 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 8 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's observation arc begins with its discovery, as no precoveries were taken and no identifications were made before 1989. Naming This minor planet was named after French philosopher, author, and journalist, Albert Camus (1913–1960), who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1 Resonance
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by 2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following 0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
13963 Euphrates
13963 Euphrates (), provisional designation , is a resonant Griqua asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 3 August 1991, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory site in Chile. The asteroid was named after the Euphrates River in the Middle East. Orbit and classification ''Euphrates'' is one of very few bodies located in the 2:1 mean motion resonance with the gas giant Jupiter and belongs to the "marginally unstable" Griqua group. It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–4.2 AU once every 6 years and 1 month (2,220 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.26 and an inclination of 1 ° with respect to the ecliptic. A first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1971, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 20 years prior to its official discovery observation. Physical characteristics Based on an absolute magnitude of 13.9, it measures bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
13070 Seanconnery
13070 Seanconnery, provisional designation ', is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 September 1991, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at Haute-Provence Observatory, St. Michael, in southeast France. The asteroid was named after actor Sean Connery. Orbit and classification ''Seanconnery'' is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner asteroid belt at a distance of 1.8–3.1 AU once every 3 years and 9 months (1,382 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.28 and an inclination of 6 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's observation arc begins 20 years prior to its official discovery observation, with its identification made during the first Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1971. Physical characteristics Rotation period In August 2006, a rotational lightcurve of ''Seanconnery'' was obtained from photometric ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
13058 Alfredstevens
13058 Alfredstevens, provisional designation , is a stony Vestian asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Northern Chile, on 19 November 1990. The asteroid was named for Belgian painter Alfred Stevens. Orbit and classification Based on its orbital elements, ''Alfredstevens'' is a member of the Vesta family, a group of asteroids that originated from a massive impact on the Southern Hemnisphere of 4 Vesta, the family's namesake. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,324 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.12 and an inclination of 6 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins just five days prior to its official discovery observation, with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory on 14 November 1990. Physical characteristics Lightc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
12838 Adamsmith
12838 Adamsmith, provisional designation , is a stony Koronis asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 9 March 1997, by Belgian astronomer Eric Walter Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. It was named after Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith. Orbit and classification ''Adamsmith'' is a member of the Koronis family, a group of co-planar, stony asteroids in the outer main-belt, named after 158 Koronis. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.1 AU once every 4 years and 11 months (1,789 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 1 ° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as at the discovering observatory in 1987, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 10 years prior to its official discovery observation. Physical characteristics In January 2011, a rotational lightcurve of ''Adamsmith'' was obtained from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9936 Al-Biruni
9936 Al-Biruni, provisional designation , is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 8 August 1986, by Belgian and Bulgarian astronomers Eric Elst and Violeta Ivanova at the Rozhen Observatory, located in Bulgaria's Smolyan province near the border to Greece. It was named for Persian medieval scholar Al-Biruni. Orbit and classification ''Al-Biruni'' orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.5–3.7 AU once every 5 years and 5 months (1,976 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 15 ° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as at Crimea-Nauchnij in 1981, extending the body's observation arc by 5 years prior to its official discovery at Rozhen. Lightcurve A rotational lightcurve of ''Al-Biruni'' was obtained from photometric observations made at the U.S. Goodsell Observatory (), Minnesota, in August 2002. The lightcurve ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Main-belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called asteroids or minor planets. This asteroid belt is also called the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. The asteroid belt is the smallest and innermost known circumstellar disc in the Solar System. About 60% of its mass is contained in the four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea. The total mass of the asteroid belt is calculated to be 3% that of the Moon. Ceres, the only object in the asteroid belt large enough to be a dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea have mean diameters less than 600 km. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particle. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
21088 Chelyabinsk
21088 Chelyabinsk, provisional designation , is a stony asteroid and near-Earth object of the Amor group, approximately 4 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 30 January 1992, by Belgian astronomer Eric Elst at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile. The asteroid was named after the Russian city of Chelyabinsk and for its spectacular Chelyabinsk meteor event in 2013. Classification and orbit ''Chelyabinsk'' orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.3–2.1 AU once every 2 years and 3 months (814 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.24 and an inclination of 38 ° with respect to the ecliptic. A first precovery was taken during the Digitized Sky Survey at the Australia Siding Spring Observatory in January 1990, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 2 years prior to its official discovery at La Silla. Close approaches As a near-Earth object, ''Chelyabinsk'' has a low Earth minimum orbit intersection distance of , which translates into 120.1 lunar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amor Asteroid
The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor . The orbital perihelion of these objects is close to, but greater than, the orbital aphelion of Earth (i.e., the objects do not cross Earth's orbit), with most Amors crossing the orbit of Mars. The Amor asteroid 433 Eros was the first asteroid to be orbited and landed upon by a robotic space probe (NEAR Shoemaker). Definition The orbital characteristics that define an asteroid as being in the Amor group are: * The orbital period is greater than one year; i.e., the orbital semi-major axis (''a'') is greater than 1.0 AU (''a'' > 1.0 AU); * The orbit does not cross that of Earth; i.e., the orbital perihelion (''q'') is greater than Earth's orbital aphelion (''q'' > 1.017 AU); * The object is a near-Earth object (NEO); i.e., ''q'' < 1.3 AU. Populations As of 2019 there are 7427 known Amor asteroids.[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
