Q16711

Also known as (433) Eros, Eros

near-Earth asteroid

AI overview

Q16711 is a near-Earth asteroid, meaning it orbits the Sun in a path that brings it relatively close to our planet. Astronomers study near-Earth asteroids like this one to better understand their movements and assess any potential impact risks to Earth.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

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

Wikidata facts

Diameter: 16.84
Orbital period: 643.1151986547006
Image: PIA02475 Eros' Bland Butterscotch Colors.jpg

Show 18 more facts

provisional designation: 1956 PC
time of discovery or invention: 1898-08-13
Commons category: 433 Eros
Commons gallery: (433) Eros
albedo: 0.25
rotation period: 5.27
density: 2.67
color index: 0.921
absolute magnitude: 10.39
orbital eccentricity: 0.2228359407071628
semi-major axis of an orbit: 1.458120998474684
periapsis: 1.13319923411471
apoapsis: 1.783042762834657
orbital inclination: 10.82846651399785
longitude of ascending node: 304.2701025753316
argument of periapsis: 178.9297536744151
mean anomaly: 310.5543277370992
time of periapsis: 2461088.8312870553

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~11 min read

Article

433 Eros is a stony asteroid of the Amor group, and the first discovered, and second-largest near-Earth object. It has an elongated shape and a volume-equivalent diameter of approximately 16.8 kilometers (10.4 miles).

The asteroid was discovered by German astronomer C. G. Witt at the Berlin Observatory on 13 August 1898 in an eccentric orbit between Mars and Earth. It was later named after Eros, a god from Greek mythology, the son of Aphrodite, the Greek equivalent of the Roman goddess Venus.