File:Potw1749a_Julia_crop.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
- Édouard Stephan
- Discovery date
- 6 August 1866
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ dʒ uː l i ə /
- Named after
- Julia of Corsica
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Julian / ˈ dʒ uː l i ə n /
- Observation arc
- 149.68 yr (54672 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.0202 AU (451.82 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.08017 AU (311.189 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.55016 AU (381.499 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.07 yr (1487.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 255.367 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 14 31.272 / day
- Inclination
- 16.128°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 311.563°
- Argument of perihelion
- 45.461°
- Dimensions
- (89±2)×(80±1)×(62±3) km
- Mean diameter
- 140 ± 3 km , 151 ± 3 km , 148 ± 8 km
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 145.483
- Mass
- 4.3
- Orbital period
- 1488.055780361856
- Image
- 89Julia (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 15 more facts
- provisional designation
- A866 PA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1866-08-06
- orbital inclination
- 16.12339435084021
- Commons category
- 89 Julia
- absolute magnitude
- 6.37
- albedo
- 0.189
- rotation period
- 11.387
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1837598886207907
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.550824166837799
- periapsis
- 2.082085002048463
- apoapsis
- 3.019563331627134
- longitude of ascending node
- 311.5201539693994
- argument of periapsis
- 45.18602178855945
- mean anomaly
- 358.3824299608462
- time of periapsis
- 2461007.186206797
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
89 Julia is a large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Édouard Stephan on 6 August 1866. This was first of his two asteroid discoveries; the other was 91 Aegina. 89 Julia is believed to be named after Saint Julia of Corsica. A stellar occultation by Julia was observed on 20 December 1985.
The spectrum of 89 Julia shows the signature of silicate rich minerals with possible indications of an abundant calcic clinopyroxene component. It is classified as an S-type asteroid. The asteroid has an estimated diameter of 151.4±3.1 km. Photometry from the Oakley Observatory during 2006 produced a lightcurve that indicated a sidereal rotation period of 11.38±0.01 with an amplitude of 0.20±0.02 in magnitude.