5370 Taranis, provisional designation , is an
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 suspected
dormant comet
An extinct comet is a comet that has expelled most of its volatile ice and has little left to form a tail and coma. In a dormant comet, rather than being depleted, any remaining volatile components have been sealed beneath an inactive surface ...
on an eccentric orbit, classified as
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 5 kilometers in diameter.
Description
''Taranis'' was discovered on 2 September 1986, by French astronomer
Alain Maury
Alain J. Maury (born 1958) is a French astronomer who has discovered numerous asteroids.
He discovered the periodic comet 115P/Maury as well as the non-periodic C/1988 C1 (Maury-Phinney).
He has discovered a number of asteroids, including the ...
at the
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
in California, United States.
It is one of very few asteroids located in the 2:1
mean-motion resonance with
Jupiter.
When at
aphelion of 5.4
AU,
[ the object is roughly the same distance from the Sun as Jupiter is when Jupiter is at aphelion. The unstable resonance with Jupiter is expected to last roughly 7.3 million years.]dormant comet
An extinct comet is a comet that has expelled most of its volatile ice and has little left to form a tail and coma. In a dormant comet, rather than being depleted, any remaining volatile components have been sealed beneath an inactive surface ...
.[
This minor planet was named after the Gaulish god of thunder ]Taranis
In Celtic mythology, Taranis (Proto-Celtic: *''Toranos'', earlier ''*Tonaros''; Latin: Taranus, earlier Tanarus) is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube reg ...
from Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a ...
. 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 September 1993 ().
References
External links
(5370) Taranis
at AstDyS-2
Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)
query form
)
Dictionary of Minor Planet Names
Google books
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taranis
005370
Discoveries by Alain Maury
Named minor planets
19860902