2202 Pele, provisional designation , is an eccentric
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.
...
and
near-Earth object of the
Amor group
Amor Group was Scotland's largest independent business technology company before being acquired by Lockheed Martin in September 2013. The business was formed after a £28 million management buyout of Glasgow based Real Time Engineering Ltd. an ...
, approximately 1–2 kilometers in diameter.
It was discovered by American astronomer
Arnold Klemola at the U.S.
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...
on Mount Hamilton, California, on 7 September 1972.
The asteroid was named after
Pele from native Hawaiian religion.
Orbit and classification
''Pele'' orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.1–3.5
AU once every 3 years and 6 months (1,265 days). Its orbit has an
eccentricity of 0.51 and an
inclination of 9
° with respect to the
ecliptic.
It is an
Amor asteroid, the second largest subgroup of
near-Earth objects, that approach the orbit of Earth from beyond, but does not cross it. It has an ''Earth
minimum orbit intersection distance'' of , which corresponds to 55.6
lunar distances.
No
precoveries were taken. The asteroid's
observation arc starts two days after the official discovery observation.
Physical characteristics
As of 2017, ''Pele''s effective size, composition, and
albedo, as well as its
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 ...
and shape remain unknown.
It measures between 1 and 2 kilometers, based on a generic
magnitude-to-diameter conversion, which assumes an albedo in the range of 0.05 to 0.25.
Naming
This
minor planet was named after
Pele, the goddess of fire, lightning, and volcanoes from
Hawaiian mythology. Pele created the Hawaiian Islands and made
Kīlauea her home, after she was forced to go away by her rival sister and goddess of the sea,
Nāmaka.
The official naming citation was published by the
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Function
...
on 1 June 1980 ().
References
External links
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Google books
– Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pele
002202
Discoveries by Arnold Klemola
Named minor planets
19720907