2101 Adonis
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| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by: | Eugene Delporte |
| Discovery date: | February 12, 1936 |
| Alternative names: | 1936 CA |
| Minor planet category: | Apollo, Mars crosser |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch October 22, 2004 (JD 2453300.5) | |
| Aphelion distance: | 494.673 Gm (3.307 AU) |
| Perihelion distance: | 65.906 Gm (0.441 AU) |
| Semi-major axis: | 280.289 Gm (1.874 AU) |
| Eccentricity: | 0.765 |
| Orbital period: | 936.742 d (2.56 a) |
| Avg. orbital speed: | 18.10 km/s |
| Mean anomaly: | 307.406° |
| Inclination: | 1.349° |
| Longitude of ascending node: | 350.580° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 42.438° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions: | 0.5—1.2 km 1 |
| Mass: | 0.13—1.8×1012 kg |
| Mean density: | 2.0? g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity: | 0.0001—0.0003 m/s² |
| Escape velocity: | 0.0003—0.0006 km/s |
| Rotation period: | ? d |
| Albedo: | 0.20—0.04 1 |
| Temperature: | 197—207 K |
| Spectral type: | ? |
| Absolute magnitude: | 18.7 |
2101 Adonis was one of the first near-Earth asteroids to be discovered. It was discovered by Eugene Delporte in 1936 and named after Adonis, the beautiful youth with whom the goddess Venus fell in love. Adonis is believed to measure approximately 1 km in diameter.
In the close approach that led to its initial discovery, not enough observations could be made to calculate an orbit, and Adonis was lost until 1977 when it was rediscovered by Charles T. Kowal.
Adonis was the second Apollo asteroid to be discovered (after 1862 Apollo itself).
It comes within 30 Gm of the Earth six times in the 21st century, the nearest being 5.3 Gm in 2036.
In the 1954 Tintin adventure Explorers on the Moon, a drunken Capt. Haddock almost becomes a satellite of the asteroid.
[edit] Adonis in fiction
- See Asteroids in fiction.
[edit] External links
| Minor planets | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous minor planet | 2101 Adonis | Next minor planet |
| List of asteroids | ||
Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Main belt · Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Damocloids · Comets · Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt • Scattered disc • Oort cloud)
For other objects and regions, see Asteroid groups and families, Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons and the Solar System.
For a complete listing, see List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names.
