File:000402-asteroid_shape_model_(402)_Chloë.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
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
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 21 March 1895
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ k l oʊ i / KLOH -ee
- Named after
- Χλόη Khloē
- Alternative designations
- 1895 BW
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Chloëan ( / k l oʊ ˈ iː ə n / kloh- EE -ən )
- Observation arc
- 120.77 yr (44,113 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.84302 AU (425.310 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.27556 AU (340.419 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.55929 AU (382.864 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.09 yr (1,495.5 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 263.333 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 26.617 / day
- Inclination
- 11.8254°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 129.415°
- Argument of perihelion
- 17.6154°
- Dimensions
- 54.21 ± 2.5 km
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
402 Chloë (prov. designation: A895 FB or 1895 BW) is a large main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 21 March 1895 from Nice. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.56 AU with a period of 4.09 years and an eccentricity of 0.11. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 11.8° to the plane of the ecliptic.
This asteroid spans a girth of approximately 54 km. It is classified as a K-type asteroid and is a Barbarian, which means it belongs to a class of asteroids of which 234 Barbara is the prototype. Analysis of the asteroid light curve, based on photometric data collected during 2009, show a rotation period of 10.664±0.001 h with a brightness variation of 0.30±0.01 in magnitude.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “402 Chloë” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.