Helga (minor planet designation: 522 Helga), provisional designation 1904 NC is a large
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.
...
(
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 ...
). It was discovered in
1904
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
by
Max Wolf
Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf (21 June 1863 – 3 October 1932) was a German astronomer and a pioneer in the field of astrophotography. He was the chairman of astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg-Kà ...
in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
. Helga is notable for being the first such object to be shown to be in a stable but
chaotic
Chaotic was originally a Danish trading card game. It expanded to an online game in America which then became a television program based on the game. The program was able to be seen on 4Kids TV (Fox affiliates, nationwide), Jetix, The CW4Kid ...
orbit in
resonance
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...
with
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
, its
Lyapunov time
In mathematics, the Lyapunov time is the characteristic timescale on which a dynamical system is chaotic. It is named after the Russian mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov. It is defined as the inverse of a system's largest Lyapunov exponent.
Use
T ...
being relatively short, at 6,900 yr. Despite this, its orbit appears to be stable, as the
eccentricity and
precession rates are such that it avoids close encounters with Jupiter. It forms part of the
Cybele asteroid group.
[
522 Helga was "named by Lt. Th. Lassen, orbit computer" according to Paul Herget's '' The Names of the Minor Planets''Title: Benennung von kleinen Planeten; Journal: Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 169, p.363; Bibliographic Code: 1905AN....169..363.]
/ref> (note that ''computer'' does not refer to a personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
, i.e. a machine, but rather to a person actually doing the necessary calculations).
References
External links
*
*
Cybele asteroids
Helga
Helga
X-type asteroids (Tholen)
19040110
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