File:62Erato_(Lightcurve_Inversion).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
- Oskar Lesser Wilhelm Julius Foerster
- Discovery date
- 14 September 1860
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɛr ə t oʊ /
- Named after
- Ἐρατώ Eratō
- Minor planet category
- Main-belt ( middle ) Themis
- Adjectives
- Eratoian / ɛ r ə ˈ t oʊ . i ə n /
- Aphelion
- 3.679 AU (550.4 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.566 AU (383.9 Gm )
- Semi major axis
- 3.122 AU (467.0 Gm )
- Orbital period sidereal
- 2,015.178 d (5.52 yr )
- Mean anomaly
- 161.828°
- Inclination
- 2.223°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 125.738°
- Argument of perihelion
- 273.285°
- Mean diameter
- 95.4 km
- Mass
- c. 6.27 × 10 kg (calculated)
- Mean density
- 1.38 g/cm (assumed)
- Synodic rotation period
- 5.675 ± 0.001 h or 9.2213 ± 0.0007 h
via Wikipedia infobox
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
62 Erato (/ˈɛrətoʊ/) is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 95 kilometers (59 miles) in diameter. It is a member of the Themis family of asteroids that share similar properties and orbital characteristics. Photometric measurements during 2004–2005 showed a rotation period of 9.2213±0.0007 h with an amplitude of 0.116±0.005 in magnitude. It is orbiting the Sun with a period of 5.52 yr, a semimajor axis of 3.122 AU, and eccentricity of 0.178. The orbital plane is inclined by an angle of 2.22° to the plane of the ecliptic.
Erato is the first asteroid to have been credited with co-discoverers, Oskar Lesser and Wilhelm Forster, who discovered it on 14 September 1860, from the Berlin Observatory. It was their first and only asteroid discovery. The name was chosen by Johann Franz Encke, director of the observatory, and refers to Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry in Greek mythology. It has also been classified as a member of the Eos family.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “62 Erato” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.