43 Ariadne
Ariadne (minor planet designation: 43 Ariadne) is a fairly large and bright main-belt asteroid. It is the second-largest member of the Flora asteroid family. It was discovered by N. R. Pogson on 15 April 1857 and named after the Greek heroine Ariadne. Characteristics Ariadne is very elongate (almost twice as long as its smallest dimension) and probably bi-lobed or at least very angular. It is a retrograde rotator, although its pole points almost parallel to the ecliptic towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (−15°, 253°) with a 10° uncertainty. This gives an axial tilt of about 105°. Studies 43 Ariadne was in a study of asteroids using the Hubble FGS. Asteroids studied include (63) Ausonia, (15) Eunomia, (43) Ariadne, (44) Nysa, and (624) Hektor. Trivia * For reasons unknown, "Asteroid 43 Ariadne" was included in a list of names of supporters of the NASA spacecraft Stardust that was stored on a microchip within the spacecraft. * The maximum apparent size of Aria ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Light Curve
In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular frequency interval or band. Light curves can be periodic, as in the case of eclipsing binaries, Cepheid variables, other periodic variables, and transiting extrasolar planets, or aperiodic, like the light curve of a nova, a cataclysmic variable star, a supernova or a microlensing event or binary as observed during occultation events. The study of the light curve, together with other observations, can yield considerable information about the physical process that produces it or constrain the physical theories about it. Variable stars Graphs of the apparent magnitude of a variable star over time are commonly used to visualise and analyse their behaviour. Although the categorisation of variable star types is increasingly done from t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fine Guidance Sensor (HST)
Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) for the Hubble Space Telescope is a system of three instruments used for pointing the telescope in space, and also for astrometry and its related sciences. Each FGS uses a combination of optics and electronics to provide for pointing the telescope at a certain location in the sky. There are three Hubble FGS, and they have been upgraded over the lifetime of the telescope by manned Space Shuttle missions. The instruments can support pointing of 2 milli-arc seconds (units of degree). The three FGS are part of the Hubble Space Telescope's ''Pointing Control System'', aka PCS.http://www.stsci.edu/hst/fgs/documents/papers/spie.pdf The FGS function in combination with the Hubble main computer and gyroscopes, with the FGS providing data to the computer as sensors which enables the HST to track astronomical targets. The FGS can be used to locate something in space, and then lock-on to it. It can provide the movements the telescope must make to keep the object ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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S-type Asteroids (Tholen)
S-type asteroids are asteroids with a spectral type that is indicative of a siliceous (i.e. stony) mineralogical composition, hence the name. They have relatively high density. Approximately 17% of asteroids are of this type, making it the second most common after the carbonaceous C-type. Characteristics S-type asteroids, with an astronomical albedo of typically 0.20, are moderately bright and consist mainly of iron- and magnesium- silicates. They are dominant in the inner part of the asteroid belt within 2.2 AU, common in the central belt within about 3 AU, but become rare farther out. The largest are 3 Juno (about 240–250 km across) and 15 Eunomia (230 km), with other large S-types being 29 Amphitrite, 532 Herculina and 7 Iris. These largest S-types are visible in 10x50 binoculars at most oppositions; the brightest, 7 Iris, can occasionally become brighter than +7.0, which is a higher magnitude than any asteroid except the unusually reflective 4 Vest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Named Minor Planets
Named may refer to something that has been given a name. Named may also refer to: * named (computing), a widely used DNS server * Naming (parliamentary procedure) Naming is a procedure in some Westminster parliaments that provides for the speaker to temporarily remove a member of parliament who is breaking the rules of conduct of the legislature. Historically, "naming" refers to the speaker's invocation of ... * The Named (band), an American industrial metal group In literature: * '' The Named'', a fantasy novel by Marianne Curley * The Named, a fictional race of prehistoric big cats, depicted in '' The Books of the Named'' series by Clare Bell See also * Name (other) * Names (other) * Naming (other) {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Discoveries By N
Discoveries may refer to: Music * ''Discoveries'' (Cannonball Adderley album), 1955 * ''Discoveries'' (Josh Nelson album), 2011 * ''Discoveries'' (Northlane album), 2011 Other uses * ''Discoveries'' (film), a 1939 British film * Discoveries (horse), a racehorse * ''Discoveries'' (Robertson Davies), a 2002 book by Robertson Davies * ''Discoveries'' (TV series), a Canadian youth science television series which aired on CBC Television in 1957 * ''Abrams Discoveries'', a series of illustrated non-fiction books published by Harry N. Abrams * ''Discoveries'', a work by William Butler Yeats, written in 1907 * ''Discoveries'', a magazine published by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center See also * Age of Discoveries * Discovery (other) Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Disco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flora Asteroids
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora as in the terms ''gut flora'' or ''skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurman ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pluto
Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is slightly less massive than Eris. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is made primarily of ice and rock and is much smaller than the inner planets. Compared to Earth's moon, Pluto has only one sixth its mass and one third its volume. Pluto has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit, ranging from from the Sun. Light from the Sun takes 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance (). Pluto's eccentric orbit periodically brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune, but a stable orbital resonance prevents them from colliding. Pluto has five known moons: Charon, the largest, whose diameter is just over half that of Pluto; Styx; Nix; Kerberos; and Hydra. Pluto and Char ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stardust (spacecraft)
''Stardust'' was a 385-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on 7 February 1999. Its primary mission was to collect dust samples from the coma of comet Wild 2, as well as samples of cosmic dust, and return them to Earth for analysis. It was the first sample return mission of its kind. En route to comet Wild 2, it also flew by and studied the asteroid 5535 Annefrank. The primary mission was successfully completed on 15 January 2006 when the sample return capsule returned to Earth. A mission extension, codenamed ''NExT'', culminated in February 2011 with ''Stardust'' intercepting comet Tempel 1, a small Solar System body previously visited by '' Deep Impact'' in 2005. ''Stardust'' ceased operations in March 2011. On 14 August 2014, scientists announced the identification of possible interstellar dust particles from the ''Stardust'' capsule returned to Earth in 2006. Mission background History Beginning in the 1980s, scientists began seeking a dedicate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to spaceflight, fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather satellite, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, Planetary science, planetary exploration, and Space transport, transportation of Human spaceflight, humans and cargo spacecraft, cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket). On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters outer space, space and then returns to the surface without having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full Earth orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other Astronomical object, celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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624 Hektor
624 Hektor is the largest Jupiter trojan and the namesake of the Hektor family, with a highly elongated shape equivalent in volume to a sphere of approximately 225 to 250 kilometers diameter. It was discovered on 10 February 1907, by astronomer August Kopff at Heidelberg Observatory in southwest Germany, and named after the Trojan prince Hector, from Greek mythology. It has one small 12-kilometer sized satellite, Skamandrios, discovered in 2006. Description ''Hektor'' is a D-type asteroid, dark and reddish in colour. It lies in Jupiter's leading Lagrangian point, , called the Greek camp after one of the two sides in the legendary Trojan War. Hektor is named after the Trojan hero Hektor and is thus one of two trojan asteroids that is "misplaced" in the wrong camp (the other one being 617 Patroclus in the Trojan camp). Contact-binary hypothesis Hektor is one of the most elongated bodies of its size in the Solar System, being approximately 403 km in its longest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |