- 4581 Asclepius
Minor Planet
name=4581 Asclepius
discoverer=Henry E. Holt
Norman G. Thomas
discovery_date=March 31 ,1989
designations=1989 FC
category=Apollo asteroid
epoch=November 26 ,2005 (JD 2453700.5)
semimajor=152.890 Gm (1.022 AU)
perihelion=98.330 Gm (0.657 AU)
aphelion=207.449 Gm (1.387 AU)
eccentricity=0.357
period=377.380 d (1.03 a)
inclination=4.910°
asc_node=180.452°
arg_peri=255.106°
mean_anomaly=114.057°
speed=28.50 km/s
dimensions=300 m
mass=?×10? kg
density=? g/cm³
gravity=? m/s²
escape_velocity=? km/s
rotation=? d
spectral_class=?
abs_mag=20.4
albedo=0.1?
temperature=~275 K4581 Asclepius "(əs-klee'-pee-əs," IPAEng|əsˈkliːpiəs) "is a small asteroid of the Apollo group that can approach Earth’s orbit to within 600,000 km; it was discovered in 1989 by the American astronomers
Henry E. Holt (1929-) andNorman G. Thomas (1930-), and named after the Greek demigod of Medicine and Healing. Asclepius (1989 FC) passed by the Earth onMarch 22 1989 at a distance of some 700,000 km, causing some media attention at that time" [http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/4581-Asclepius] . Astronomers say that had the asteroid hit Earth, the impact would have been equivalent to one Hiroshima-sized atomic bomb detonating every second for 50 days. Subsequent discoveries revealed that a whole class of such objects exists, and that an object the size of the one which just missed Earth in March 1989, probably comes by undetected once every two or three years. "On the cosmic scale of things, that was a close call," said Dr. Henry Holt.Asclepius will continue to make close approaches to Earth, coming to within 30 Gm 12 times in the 21st century. But the next pass comparable to the 1989 one mentioned above will not take place until 2189, at about 980,000 km.
References
External links
* [http://newton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/neodys/neoibo?objects:Asclepius;main NEODys entry on 4581 Asclepius]
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