|
2578 Saint-Exupéry
2578 Saint-Exupéry, provisional designation , is an Eoan asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on 2 November 1975, and named after French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Classification and orbit ''Saint-Exupéry'' is a member the Eos family (), the largest asteroid family of the outer main belt consisting of nearly 10,000 known members. The asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.7–3.3 AU once every 5 years and 2 months (1,900 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 11 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid's was first identified as at McDonald Observatory in Texas. One month later, it was also observed at the Palomar Observatory in May 1952. Its observation arc begins by 23 years prior to its official discovery observation at Nauchnyj. Physical charac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamara Smirnova
Tamara Mikhaylovna Smirnova (, ; December 15, 1935, Henichesk, Soviet Union — September 5, 2001, Saint-Petersburg, Russia) was a Soviet Union, Soviet/Russian/Ukraine, Ukrainian astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets. Career From 1966 to 1988, Tamara Smirnova was a staff member of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy at Saint Petersburg, Leningrad. She is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 135 numbered minor planets during 1966–1984. She also co-discovered the periodic comet 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh, along with Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh. The main-belt asteroid 5540 Smirnova, discovered by herself in 1971, was named in her honor following a proposal by the ''Institute of Theoretical Astronomy''. Naming citation was published on 17 March 1995 (). List of discovered minor planets See also * References 1935 births 2001 deaths Soviet women scientists Discoverers of asteroids Disco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McDonald Observatory
McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, with additional facilities on Mount Fowlkes, approximately to the northeast. The observatory is part of The University of Texas at Austin. It is an organized research unit of the College of Natural Sciences. The observatory produces '' StarDate'', a daily syndicated radio program consisting of short segments related to astronomy that airs on both National Public Radio and commercial radio stations — about 400 affiliates in all. History McDonald Observatory was originally endowed by the Texas banker William Johnson McDonald (1844–1926), who left about $1 million — the bulk of his fortune — to The University of Texas at Austin to endow an astronomical observatory. Edwin Hockaday Fowlkes, step-son of the land's original owner John Chandler Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 The Minor Planet Center is the official worldwide organization in charge of collecting observational data for minor planets (such as asteroids), calculating their orbits and publishing this information via the '' Minor Planet Circulars''. Under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory. The MPC runs a number of free online services for observers to assist them in observing minor planets and comets. The complete catalogue of minor planet orbits (sometimes referred to as the "Minor Planet Catalogue") may also be freely downloaded. In addition to astrometric data, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hexadecimal
Hexadecimal (also known as base-16 or simply hex) is a Numeral system#Positional systems in detail, positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of sixteen. Unlike the decimal system representing numbers using ten symbols, hexadecimal uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols "0"–"9" to represent values 0 to 9 and "A"–"F" to represent values from ten to fifteen. Software developers and system designers widely use hexadecimal numbers because they provide a convenient representation of binary code, binary-coded values. Each hexadecimal digit represents four bits (binary digits), also known as a nibble (or nybble). For example, an 8-bit byte is two hexadecimal digits and its value can be written as to in hexadecimal. In mathematics, a subscript is typically used to specify the base. For example, the decimal value would be expressed in hexadecimal as . In programming, several notations denote hexadecimal numbers, usually involving a prefi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
46610 Bésixdouze
46610 Bésixdouze (; provisional designation ) is a bright background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 2 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1993, by Japanese amateur astronomers Kin Endate and Kazuro Watanabe at the Kitami Observatory in eastern Hokkaidō, Japan. The asteroid was named after "B-612", home of ''The Little Prince''. Orbit and classification Bésixdouze is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.7 AU once every 3 years and 5 months (1,249 days; semi-major axis of 2.27 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.18 and an inclination of 2 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The asteroid was first identified as at Crimea–Nauchnij in a single image taken in September 1986. Physical characteristics Diameter and albedo According to the survey carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provisional Designation
Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calculated. Approximately 47% of the more than 1,100,000 known minor planets remain provisionally designated, as hundreds of thousands have been discovered in the last two decades. The modern system is overseen by the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union. __TOC__ Minor planets The current system of provisional designation of minor planets (asteroids, centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects) has been in place since 1925. It superseded several previous conventions, each of which was in turn rendered obsolete by the increasing numbers of minor planet discoveries. A modern or new-style provisional designation consists of the year of discovery, followed by two letters and, possibly, a suffixed number. New-style provisiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published posthumously in France following liberation; Saint-Exupéry's works had been banned by the Vichy Regime. The story follows a young prince who visits various planets, including Earth, and addresses themes of loneliness, friendship, love, and loss. Despite its style as a children's book, ''The Little Prince'' makes observations about life, adults, and human nature. ''The Little Prince'' became Saint-Exupéry's most successful work, selling an estimated 140 million copies worldwide, which makes it one of the best-selling in history. The book has been translated into over 505 different languages and dialects worldwide, being the second most translated work ever published, trailing only the Bible. ''The Little Prince'' has been adapted to nu ... [...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 IAU definition of planet, reclassified minor planets and comets into dwarf planets and Small Solar System body, 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. In contrast to the eight official planets of the Solar System, all minor planets fail to clearing the neighborhood, clear their orbital neighborhood. Minor planets include asteroids (near- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotation Period
In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the '' sidereal rotation period'' (or ''sidereal day''), i.e., the time that the object takes to complete a full rotation around its axis relative to the background stars ( inertial space). The other type of commonly used "rotation period" is the object's '' synodic rotation period'' (or ''solar day''), which may differ, by a fraction of a rotation or more than one rotation, to accommodate the portion of the object's orbital period around a star or another body during one day. Measuring rotation For solid objects, such as rocky planets and asteroids, the rotation period is a single value. For gaseous or fluid bodies, such as stars and giant planets, the period of rotation varies from the object's equator to its pole due to a phenomenon called differential rotation. Typically, the stated rotation period for a giant pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomical Albedo
Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation). ''Surface albedo'' is defined as the ratio of radiosity ''J''e to the irradiance ''E''e (flux per unit area) received by a surface. The proportion reflected is not only determined by properties of the surface itself, but also by the spectral and angular distribution of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. These factors vary with atmospheric composition, geographic location, and time (see position of the Sun). While directional-hemispherical reflectance factor is calculated for a single angle of incidence (i.e., for a given position of the Sun), albedo is the directional integration of reflectance over all solar angles in a given period. The temporal resolution may range from seconds (as obtained from flux measurements) to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NEOWISE
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE, observatory code C51, Explorer 92 and MIDEX-6) was a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009.. . WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and numerous star clusters. Its observations also supported the discovery of the first Y-type brown dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid. ... . WISE performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm wavelength range bands, over ten months using a diameter infrared telescope in Earth orbit. After its solid hydrogen coolant depleted, it was placed in hibernation mode in February 2011. In 2013, NASA reactivated the WISE telescope to search for near-Earth objects (NEO), such as comets and asteroids, that could collide with Earth. The reactivation mission was called Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE). As of August 2023, NEOWISE was 40% through the 20th coverage of the full sky. Science o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
