In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, 3908 Nyx is referenced by 17 other articles, and connects out to list of minor planets: 3001–4000, Nyx and day.
Vinony files it under Amor asteroids, Astronomical objects discovered in 1980 and Discoveries by Hans-Emil Schuster.
Its subject is documented across 37 Wikipedia language editions.
Picture of the Day · NASA
Pathfinder on Mars
2026-07-04
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Hans-Emil Schuster
- Discovery date
- 6 August 1980
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ n ɪ k s / "Nyx" . Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- Named after
- Nyx
- Alternative designations
- 1980 PA; 1988 XB 1
- Minor planet category
- Amor ; Mars-crosser
- Adjectives
- Nyctian
- Observation arc
- 13021 days (35.65 yr)
- Aphelion
- 2.81198 AU (420.666 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 1.04239 AU (155.939 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 1.92719 AU (288.304 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 2.68 yr (977.20 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 99.7699 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 22 6.236 / day
- Inclination
- 2.17667°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 261.688°
- Argument of perihelion
- 125.978°
- Earth moid
- 0.0563399 AU (8.42833 Gm)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 1.0
- Orbital period
- 977.7386961236871
- Image
- 3908 nyx-s02.jpg
Show 15 more facts
- provisional designation
- 1988 XB1
- time of discovery or invention
- 1980-08-06
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.4590032613687189
- albedo
- 0.23
- absolute magnitude
- 17.45
- periapsis
- 1.042983804799984
- apoapsis
- 2.81280211893304
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 1.927892961866512
- mean anomaly
- 312.9714404220139
- longitude of ascending node
- 261.1918271687338
- argument of periapsis
- 126.6598342792747
- orbital inclination
- 2.186359090051667
- Commons category
- 3908 Nyx
- rotation period
- 4.42601
- time of periapsis
- 2461128.2267847843
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3908 Nyx is an Amor and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Hans-Emil Schuster on August 6, 1980, and is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night, after which Pluto's moon Nix is also named. It is 1–2 km (0.62–1.24 mi) in diameter and is a V-type asteroid, meaning that it may be a fragment of the asteroid 4 Vesta.
Observations
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “3908 Nyx” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.