Kallisto (
minor planet designation
A formal minor-planet designation is, in its final form, a number–name combination given to a minor planet (asteroid, centaur, trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet but not comet). Such designation always features a leading number (catalog or ...
: 204 Kallisto) is a fairly typical, although sizeable
Main belt asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
. It is classified as an
S-type asteroid. Like other asteroids of its type, it is light in colour. It was discovered by
Johann Palisa
Johann Palisa (6 December 1848 – 2 May 1925) was an Austrian astronomer, born in Troppau, Austrian Silesia, now Czech Republic. He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids, discovering 122 in all, from 136 Austria in 1874 to 1073 Gel ...
on 8 October 1879, in
Pola, and was named after the same nymph
Callisto in
Greek mythology as
Jupiter's
moon Callisto.
Photometric measurements during 2009 produced a
lightcurve that indicated a sidereal
rotation period
The rotation period of a celestial object (e.g., star, gas giant, planet, moon, asteroid) may refer to its sidereal rotation period, i.e. the time that the object takes to complete a single revolution around its axis of rotation relative to the ...
of with a variation
amplitude of magnitudes. This result conflicted with previous determinations of the period, so the latter were ruled out.
[
]
References
External links
The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database
*
*
000204
Discoveries by Johann Palisa
Named minor planets
000204
18791008
Callisto (mythology)
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