1 Ceres

1 Ceres ([ˈsi.riz], Latin Cerēs) was the first asteroid to be discovered. It was discovered on January 1, 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi. With a diameter of about 950 km it is by far the largest and most massive asteroid in the asteroid belt: It is over half as massive as the rest of the belt put together. 1 Ceres - Name. Ceres was originally named Ceres Ferdinandea after both the mythological figure Ceres (Roman goddess of plants and motherly ...

Including:

• 1 Ceres - Name
• 1 Ceres - Discovery
• 1 Ceres - Physical characteristics
• 1 Ceres - Observations
• 1 Ceres - Trivia
• 1 Ceres - Aspects
• 1 Ceres - External link

Read more here: » 1 Ceres: Encyclopedia - 1 Ceres

Ceres was discovered by accident. Piazzi was searching for a star listed by Francis Wollaston as Mayer 87 because it was not in Mayer's zodiacal catalogue in the position given (it eventually transpired that Wollaston had made a mistake —the star was in fact Lacaille 87). Instead, Piazzi found a moving star-like object, which he thought at first was a comet. Piazzi observed Ceres a total of 24 times, the final time on February 11, when illness interrupted. On 24 January 1801, Piazzi announced his discovery in letters to fellow astro ...

See also:

1 Ceres, 1 Ceres - Name, 1 Ceres - Discovery, 1 Ceres - Physical characteristics, 1 Ceres - Observations, 1 Ceres - Trivia, 1 Ceres - Aspects, 1 Ceres - External link

Read more here: » 1 Ceres: Encyclopedia II - 1 Ceres - Discovery

In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra (World Book «HIHR uh») (Greek Ἥρα or Ἥρη) was the wife and sister of Zeus. She also presided as goddess of marriage, the patriarchal bond of her own subordination. (Slater 1968) Hera is portrayed as being majestic and solemn, often enthroned and crowned with the polos, the high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesse ...

Including:

• Hera - Etymology and Pre-History
• Hera - Cult
• Hera - Hera and children
• Hera - Hera the nemesis of Heracles
• Hera - Hera's jealousies
• Hera - Echo
• Hera - Leto and Artemis/Apollo
• Hera - Callisto/Arcas
• Hera - Semele/Dionysus
• Hera - Io
• Hera - Lamia
• Hera - Other Stories Involving Hera
• Hera - Cydippe
• Hera - Tiresias
• Hera - Chelone
• Hera - The Iliad
• Hera - The Golden Fleece
• Hera - The Metamorphoses
• Hera - Hera in Neopaganism

Read more here: » Hera: Encyclopedia - Hera

An asteroid is a small, solid object in our Solar System, orbiting the Sun. An asteroid is an example of a minor planet (or planetoid), which are much smaller than planets. Most asteroids are believed to be remnants of the protoplanetary disc which were not incorporated into planets during the system's formation. Some asteroids have moons. The vast majority of the asteroids are within the main asteroid belt, with elliptical orbits between those of Mars and Jupiter. Asteroid - Definition. The term "as ...

Including:

• Asteroid - Definition
• Asteroid - Asteroids in the solar system
• Asteroid - Asteroid classification
• Asteroid - Orbit groups and families
• Asteroid - Spectral classification
• Asteroid - Asteroid discovery
• Asteroid - Historical discovery methods
• Asteroid - Modern discovery methods
• Asteroid - Latest technology: detecting hazardous asteroids
• Asteroid - Naming asteroids
• Asteroid - The naming format
• Asteroid - Unnamed asteroids
• Asteroid - Sources for names
• Asteroid - Special naming rules
• Asteroid - Asteroid symbols
• Asteroid - Asteroid exploration
• Asteroid - Asteroids in fiction and film

Read more here: » Asteroid: Encyclopedia - Asteroid

Asteroids are assigned a type based on spectral shape, color, and sometimes albedo. These types are thought to correspond to an asteroid's surface composition. For small bodies which are not internally differentiated, the surface and internal compositions are presumably similar, while large bodies such as 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta are known to have internal structure. A list of types can be found at Category:asteroid spectral classes Asteroid spectral types - Present-day classifications. The present-day classific ...

Including:

• Asteroid spectral types - Present-day classifications
• Asteroid spectral types - Tholen classification
• Asteroid spectral types - SMASS classification
• Asteroid spectral types - End notes

Read more here: » Asteroid spectral types: Encyclopedia - Asteroid spectral types

Minor planets, or planetoids are minor bodies of the Solar system orbiting the Sun (or of other planetary systems orbiting other stars) that are larger than meteoroids (the largest of which might be taken to be around 10 meters or so across) but smaller than major planets (Mercury having a diameter of about 4880 km). The term minor planet is sometimes used as a synonym for asteroid though this is technically incorrect; asteroids are one group of minor planets, a category which also includes Trans-Neptunian objects and ot ...

Including:

• Minor planet - Groups out to the orbit of Earth
• Minor planet - Groups out to the orbit of Mars
• Minor planet - The main asteroid belt
• Minor planet - Families within the main asteroid belt
• Minor planet - Other groups out to the orbit of Jupiter
• Minor planet - Groups beyond the orbit of Jupiter
• Minor planet - Quasi-satellites and horseshoe objects

Read more here: » Minor planet: Encyclopedia - Minor planet

2003 EL61 (also written 2003 EL61), nicknamed "Santa" (non-official designation), is a very large and unusual Kuiper belt object recently discovered by Mike Brown et al. at Caltech in the United States. The nickname stems from its discovery just after Christmas, on December 28, 2004, although the Caltech team had acquired images of it starting May 6, 2004. The nickname is only temporary and will not be the official name of the object. IAU guidelines dictate that the object will be named after a c ...

Including:

• 2003 EL61 - Discovery controversy
• 2003 EL61 - Size and composition
• 2003 EL61 - Orbit
• 2003 EL61 - Moons
• 2003 EL61 - S/2005 2003 EL₆₁ 1
• 2003 EL61 - S/2005 2003 EL₆₁ 2

Read more here: » 2003 EL61: Encyclopedia - 2003 EL61

Pluto is the ninth planet in the solar system. Discovered in 1930 and immediately classified as a planet, its status is currently under dispute. Pluto has an eccentric orbit that is highly inclined in respect to the other planets and takes it inside the orbit of Neptune. Its largest moon is Charon, discovered in 1978; two smaller moons were discovered in 2005. Pluto's astronomical symbol is a P-L monogram, ♇. This represents both the first two letters of the name Pluto and the initials of Percival Lowell ...

Including:

• Pluto - Discovery and naming
• Pluto - Orbit
• Pluto - Physical characteristics
• Pluto - Mass and size
• Pluto - Atmosphere
• Pluto - Appearance
• Pluto - Pluto's moons
• Pluto - Charon
• Pluto - The outer moons
• Pluto - Exploration of Pluto
• Pluto - The Pluto debate
• Pluto - Planet X?
• Pluto - Minor planet?
• Pluto - New discoveries
• Pluto - Pluto in popular culture

Read more here: » Pluto: Encyclopedia - Pluto

The solar system comprises our Sun and the retinue of celestial objects gravitationally bound to it. Traditionally, this is said to consist of the Sun, nine planets and their 158 currently known moons; however, a large number of other objects, including asteroids, meteoroids, planetoids, comets, and interplanetary dust, orbit the Sun as well. Although the term "solar system" is frequently applied to other star systems and the planetary systems which may comprise them, it should strictly refer to our system specifically: the wor ...

Including:

• Solar system - Structure and layout of the solar system
• Solar system - Origin and age of the solar system
• Solar system - Regions of the solar system
• Solar system - Interplanetary medium
• Solar system - The inner planets
• Solar system - The asteroid belt
• Solar system - The outer planets
• Solar system - The trans-Neptunian region
• Solar system - And beyond
• Solar system - Galactic orbit of the solar system
• Solar system - Planetary system formation
• Solar system - Discovery of the solar system
• Solar system - Exploration of the solar system
• Solar system - Attributes of major planets
• Solar system - Attributes of the largest minor planets
• Solar system - Other facts

Read more here: » Solar system: Encyclopedia - Solar system

106 Dione is a large main belt asteroid. It probably has a composition similar to 1 Ceres. It was discovered by J. C. Watson on October 10, 1868 and named after Dione, a Titan in Greek mythology. Dione occulted a dim star on January 19, 1983. A diameter of 147 km was observed, closely matching the value acquired by the IRAS satellite. One of Saturn's satellites is also named Dione. … | Previous minor planet | 106 Dione | Next ...

Read more here: » 106 Dione: Encyclopedia - 106 Dione

4 Vesta (ves'-tə, IPA /ˈvɛstə/) is the second most massive asteroid in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of about 530 km and an estimated mass 12% the mass of the entire asteroid belt. Its size and unusually bright surface make Vesta the brightest asteroid, and the only one ever visible to the naked eye from Earth, apart from 1 Ceres under exceptional viewing conditions. Due to the availability of rock samples in the form of the HED meteorites, it has also been the ...

Including:

• 4 Vesta - Discovery
• 4 Vesta - Physical characteristics
• 4 Vesta - Geology
• 4 Vesta - Surface features
• 4 Vesta - Further details
• 4 Vesta - Aspects

Read more here: » 4 Vesta: Encyclopedia - 4 Vesta

2 Pallas (pal'-us, Greek Παλλάς) was the second asteroid discovered, following 1 Ceres. It was found and named by H. Wilhelm Olbers on March 28, 1802. It is estimated that it contains 9% of the mass of the entire asteroid belt. 2 Pallas - Name. The asteroid is named after Pallas, the daughter of Triton and friend of Athena in Greek mythology. (There are several male characters of the same name in Greek mythology, but the first asteroids were invariably given female names.) Accordi ...

Including:

• 2 Pallas - Name
• 2 Pallas - Characteristics
• 2 Pallas - Observations
• 2 Pallas - Trivia
• 2 Pallas - Aspects
• 2 Pallas - External link

Read more here: » 2 Pallas: Encyclopedia - 2 Pallas

January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other than January 1. This day was adopted as the first day of the Julian year by all Western European countries except England between about 1450 and 1600. The Gregorian calendar as promulgated in 1582 did not specify that Janu ...

Including:

• January 1 - Events
• January 1 - Births
• January 1 - Deaths
• January 1 - Holidays and observances

Read more here: » January 1: Encyclopedia - January 1

90377 Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object, discovered by Michael Brown (Caltech), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Rabinowitz (Yale University) on November 14, 2003. Its discovery was the farthest distance at which any natural object in the solar system has ever been observed. Sedna is described as a cold planetoid, perhaps as large as two-thirds the size of Pluto. 90377 Sedna - General information. Sedna was discovered during a survey conducted with the Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observat ...

Including:

• 90377 Sedna - General information
• 90377 Sedna - Orbital characteristics
• 90377 Sedna - Physical characteristics
• 90377 Sedna - Classification

Read more here: » 90377 Sedna: Encyclopedia - 90377 Sedna

176 Iduna is a large main belt asteroid. It has a composition similar to that of the largest main belt asteroid, 1 Ceres. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on October 14, 1877. It is named after the Ydun, a club in Stockholm that hosted an astronomical conference. An occultation of a star by Iduna was observed from Mexico on January 17, 1998. … | Previous minor planet | 176 Iduna | Next ...

Read more here: » 176 Iduna: Encyclopedia - 176 Iduna

Jupiter Mars Quirinus Vesta Juno Fortuna Minerva Mercury Vulcan Ceres Venus Lares The Flamens Bona Dea Carmenta Camenae Dea Dia Convector Flora Lupercus Pales Pomona Egeria Ceres, in Roman mythology, equivalent to the Greek Demeter, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, wife-sister of Jupiter, mother of Proserpina by Jupiter, sister ...

Read more here: » Ceres mythology: Encyclopedia - Ceres mythology

When the orbital elements of main belt asteroids are plotted (typically inclination vs. eccentricity, or vs. semi-major axis), a number of distinct concentrations are seen against the rather uniform background distribution of generic asteroids. These concentrations are the asteroid families. Strictly speaking, families and their membership are identified by analysing the so-called proper orbital elements rather than the current osculating orbital elements, which regularly fluctuate on timescales of tens of thousands of years. The p ...

See also:

Asteroid family, Asteroid family - General properties, Asteroid family - Origin and evolution, Asteroid family - Identification of members and interlopers, Asteroid family - Family types, Asteroid family - List of families

Read more here: » Asteroid family: Encyclopedia II - Asteroid family - Identification of members and interlopers

Asteroid - Historical discovery methods. Asteroid discovery methods have drastically improved over the past two centuries. In the last years of the 18th century, Baron Franz Xaver von Zach organized a group of 24 astronomers to search the sky for the "missing planet" predicted at about 2.8 AU from the Sun by the Titius-Bode law, partly as a consequence of the discovery, by Sir William Herschel in 1781, of the planet Uranus at the distance "predicted" by the law. This task required that hand-drawn sky chart ...

See also:

Asteroid, Asteroid - Definition, Asteroid - Asteroids in the solar system, Asteroid - Asteroid classification, Asteroid - Orbit groups and families, Asteroid - Spectral classification, Asteroid - Asteroid discovery, Asteroid - Historical discovery methods, Asteroid - Modern discovery methods, Asteroid - Latest technology: detecting hazardous asteroids, Asteroid - Naming asteroids, Asteroid - The naming format, Asteroid - Unnamed asteroids, Asteroid - Sources for names, Asteroid - Special naming rules, Asteroid - Asteroid symbols, Asteroid - Asteroid exploration, Asteroid - Asteroids in fiction and film

Read more here: » Asteroid: Encyclopedia II - Asteroid - Asteroid discovery

This type of asteroid has very similar spectra to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (types CI and CM), whose chemical composition is approximately the same as the Sun and the primitive solar nebula, except that they do not contain hydrogen, helium and other volatiles. Hydrated (water-contating) minerals are present. C-type asteroids are extremely dark with albedos typically in the 0.03 to 0.10 range. Their spectra contain moderately strong ultraviolet absorption at wavelengths below about 0.4 μm to 0.5 μm, while at longer wavelength ...

See also:

C-type asteroid, C-type asteroid - Characteristics, C-type asteroid - C-group asteroids, C-type asteroid - C-group Tholen, C-type asteroid - C-group SMASS

Read more here: » C-type asteroid: Encyclopedia II - C-type asteroid - Characteristics

Pallas is the third largest asteroid, similar to 4 Vesta in volume (to within uncertainty), but significantly less massive. Pallas is currently the largest Solar System body (barring trans-Neptunian objects) whose surface has not been directly imaged by spacecraft or telescopes. It may also be the largest irregularly-shaped body, meaning that it has not been compressed by gravity into a spheroid shape (other candidates may be trans-Nept ...

See also:

2 Pallas, 2 Pallas - Name, 2 Pallas - Characteristics, 2 Pallas - Observations, 2 Pallas - Trivia, 2 Pallas - Aspects, 2 Pallas - External link

Read more here: » 2 Pallas: Encyclopedia II - 2 Pallas - Characteristics