2 Pallas

Infobox Planet
bgcolour=#BCD1F1
name=2 Pallas
symbol=
physical_characteristics = yes


caption= An ultraviolet image of Pallas showing a flattened roughly octahedron shape. Taken by the Hubble Telescope.
discovery=yes
discoverer=Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers
discovered=March 28, 1802
alt_names="none"
mp_category=Pallas family
adjectives=Palladian
orbit_ref= [ftp://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.html]
epoch=August 22, 2008 (JD 2454700.5)
semimajor=414.737 Gm (2.772 AU)
perihelion=319.005 Gm (2.132 AU)
aphelion=510.468 Gm (3.412 AU)
eccentricity=0.231
period=1686.044 d (4.62 a)
inclination=34.838°
asc_node=173.134°
arg_perihelion=310.274°
mean_anomaly=306.605°
avg_speed=17.65 km/s
dimensions=582×556×500±9 kmcite journal
author=Schmidt, B.E., "et al."
title=Hubble takes a look at Pallas: Shape, size, and surface
journal=39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX). Held March 10–14, 2008, in League City, Texas.
year=2008 |volume=1391 |pages=2502
url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2008/pdf/2502.pdf
accessdate=2008-08-24]
mass=2.2e|20 kgcite conference
first = E. V. |last = Pitjeva |authorlink = Elena V. Pitjeva
title = Estimations of masses of the largest asteroids and the main asteroid belt from ranging to planets, Mars orbiters and landers
booktitle = 35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 18–25 July 2004, in Paris, France
pages= 2014 |year= 2004
url= http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004cosp.meet.2014P ] cite journal
last=Goffin |first=E.
title=New determination of the mass of Pallas |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics
year=2001 |volume=365 |pages=627–630
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001A&A...365..627G
accessdate=2007-03-15
doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20000023 ]
density=~2.8 g/cm³
surface_grav=~0.18 m/s²
escape_velocity=~0.32 km/s
axial_tilt=likely 78 ± 13°
rotation=0.325 55 dcite web
last= Harris |first= A. W. |coauthors= Warner, B. D.; Pravec, P.; Eds.
title= Asteroid Lightcurve Derived Data. EAR-A-5-DDR-Derived-Lightcurve-V8.0.
publisher= NASA Planetary Data System |date= 2006
url= http://www.psi.edu/pds/resource/lc.html
accessdate= 2007-03-15]
spectral_type=B-type asteroidcite web
last= Neese |first= C. |coauthors= Ed.
title= Asteroid Taxonomy. EAR-A-5-DDR-Taxonomy-V5.0.
publisher= NASA Planetary Data System
date= 2005
url= http://www.psi.edu/pds/resource/taxonomy.html
accessdate= 2007-03-15]
magnitude = 6.4 to 10.6
abs_magnitude=4.13cite web
last= Tedesco |first= E. F. |coauthors= Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D.
title= IRAS Minor Planet Survey. IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0.
publisher= NASA Planetary Data System |date= 2004
url= http://www.psi.edu/pds/resource/imps.html
accessdate= 2007-03-15]
albedo=0.159 (geometric)
angular_size = 0.59"Calculated with [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&body_group=sb&sstr=2 JPL Horizons] for 2014-Feb-24] to 0.17"
single_temperature=~164 K
"max:" ~265 K (-8 °C)

2 Pallas (pronEng|ˈpæləs respell|PAL|əs, or as _gr. "Παλλάς)" is one of the largest asteroids and is located in the main asteroid belt. It was the second asteroid to be discovered, by astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers on March 28, 1802. Pallas was at first considered a planet, as were the other early asteroids 1 Ceres, 3 Juno, and 4 Vesta, until the discovery of many additional asteroids led to their re-classification.

With a mass estimated to be 7% of the total mass of the asteroid belt, Pallas is one of the largest asteroids. Its diameter is some 550 km, comparable to that of 4 Vesta, but it is 20% less massive, placing it third among the asteroids. The Palladian surface appears to be a silicate material; the surface spectrum and estimated density resemble carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The Palladian orbit, at 34.8°, is unusually highly inclined to the plane of the main asteroid belt, and the orbital eccentricity is nearly as large as that of Pluto, making Pallas relatively inaccessible to spacecraft. [cite web
author=Anonymous | date=2007-11-05
url=http://spacefiles.blogspot.com/2007/11/pre-dawn-french-soviet-vesta-mission.html
title=Pre-Dawn: The French-Soviet VESTA mission
publisher=Space Files | accessdate=2008-06-28 ] [cite web
author=Anonymous
url=http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/our_solar_system/asteroids_and_comets/asteroids.html
title=Space Topics: Asteroids and Comets, Notable Comets
publisher=The Planetary Society
accessdate=2008-06-28 ]

Name

2 Pallas is named after Pallas Athena, an alternate name for the goddess Athena. [] [cite web | url = http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_TIFF_demo&vol=02&page=EB2A875 | title = Athena | work=1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica | publisher = Encyclopaedia Britannica (Tim Starling) | accessdate = 2008-08-16 ] In some mythologies Athena killed Pallas, then adopted her friend's name out of mourning. [cite book|title=The Origin of Culture and Civilization: The Cosmological Philosophy of the Ancient Worldview Regarding Myth, Astrology, Science, and Religion|last=Dietrich|first=Thomas|isbn=0976498162|publisher=Turnkey Press|pages=178|date=2005] (There are several male characters of the same name in Greek mythology, but the first asteroids were invariably given female names.) The adjectival form of the name is "Palladian." [OED]

The stony-iron Pallasite meteorites are not connected to the Pallas asteroid, being instead named after the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas. The chemical element palladium, on the other hand, was named after the asteroid, which had been discovered just before the element. [cite_web | publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory | url=http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/46.html |title=Palladium |accessdate=2007-03-28]

As with other asteroids, the astronomical symbol for Pallas is its discovery number circled, Unicode|②. However, it also has dedicated symbols, , which are not in common use.

History of observation

In 1801, the astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi discovered an object which he initially believed to be a comet. Shortly thereafter he announced his observations of this object, noting that the slow, uniform motion was uncharacteristic of a comet, suggesting it was a different type of object. This was lost from sight for several months, but was recovered later in the year by the Baron von Zach and Heinrich W. M. Olbers after a preliminary orbit was computed by Friedrich Gauss. This object came to be named Ceres, and was the first asteroid to be discovered. [cite web|last=Hoskin|first=Michael|date=1992-06-26|url=http://www.astropa.unipa.it/HISTORY/hoskin.html|title=Bode's Law and the Discovery of Ceres|publisher=Observatorio Astronomico di Palermo "Giuseppe S. Vaiana"|accessdate=2007-07-05 ] [cite journal|last=Forbes|first=Eric G.|title=Gauss and the Discovery of Ceres|journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy|volume=2|pages=195–199|year=1971| url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1971JHA.....2..195F]

thumb|left|The_size_of_Pallas_as_estimated_by_Schröter in 1811.A few months later, Olbers was again attempting to locate Ceres when he noticed another moving object in the vicinity. This was the asteroid Pallas, coincidentally passing near Ceres at the time. The discovery of this object created interest in the astronomy community. Before this point it had been speculated by astronomers that there should be a planet in the gap between Mars and Jupiter. Now, unexpectedly, a second such body had been found.cite web | url = http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/DawnCommunity/flashbacks/fb_06.asp | title = Astronomical Serendipity | publisher = NASA JPL | accessdate = 2007-03-15 ] When Pallas was discovered some estimates of its size were as large as 3380 km in diameter. [cite web
date=2007-11-16
author=Hilton, James L. |authorlink=James L. Hilton
title=When did asteroids become minor planets?
work=U.S. Naval Observatory
url=http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/minorplanets.php
accessdate=2008-06-22 ] Even as recently as 1979, Pallas was estimated to be 673 km in diameter (26% greater than the currently accepted value). [cite web
author=Hilton, James L |authorlink=James L. Hilton
title=Asteroid Masses and Densities
work=U.S. Naval Observatory
url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/AsteroidsIII/pdf/3008.pdf
accessdate=2008-09-07|format=PDF ]

The orbit of Pallas was determined by Gauss, who found the period of 4.6 years was similar to the period for Ceres. However, Pallas had a relatively high orbital inclination to the plane of the ecliptic.

In 1917, the Japanese astronomer Kiyotsugu Hirayama began to study asteroid motions. By plotting a set of asteroids based on their mean orbital motion, inclination and eccentricty, he discovered several distinct groupings. In a later paper he reported a group of three asteroids associated with Pallas, which became named the Pallas family after the largest member of the group. [cite conference | first=Yoshihide | last=Kozai | authorlink=Yoshihide Kozai | title=Kiyotsugu Hirayama and His Families of Asteroids (invited) | booktitle=Proceedings of the International Conference | publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific | date=November 29-December 3, 1993 | location=Sagamihara, Japan | url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976IAUS...73...75P | accessdate=2007-01-08 ] Since 1994 more than 10 members of this family have been identified, and these have semi-major axes between 2.50–2.82 AU and inclinations of 33–38°. [cite web | last=Faure | first=Gérard | date=May 20, 2004 | url=http://www.astrosurf.com/aude/map/us/AstFamilies2004-05-20.htm | title=Description of the System of Asteroids | publisher=Astrosurf.com | accessdate=2007-03-15 ] The existence of this family was finally confirmed in 2002 by a comparison of their spectra. [cite journal | author=Foglia, S.; Masi, G. | title=New clusters for highly inclined main-belt asteroids | journal=The Minor Planet Bulletin | year=1999 | volume=31 | pages=100–102 | url=http://asteroidi.uai.it/family/ | accessdate=2007-03-15 ]

Pallas has been observed occulting a star several times, including the best observed of all asteroid occultation events on May 29, 1983, when careful occultation timing measurements were taken by 140 observers. These resulted in the first accurate measurments of its diameter.cite journal
author=Drummond, J. D.; Cocke, W. J.
title=Triaxial ellipsoid dimensions and rotational pole of 2 Pallas from two stellar occultations
journal=Icarus | year=1989 |volume=78 |pages=323–329
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989Icar...78..323D
accessdate=2007-03-15 | doi = 10.1016/0019-1035(89)90180-2 ] cite journal
author=Dunham, D. W.; "et al."
title=The size and shape of (2) Pallas from the 1983 occultation of 1 Vulpeculae
journal=Astronomical Journal |year=1990 |volume=99 |pages=1636–1662
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1990AJ.....99.1636D
accessdate=2007-03-14 | doi = 10.1086/115446 ] During the occultation of May 29, 1979 the discovery of a possible tiny satellite with a diameter of about 1 km was reported. However, it could not be confirmed. In 1980, speckle interferometry was reported as indicating a much larger satellite with a diameter of 175 km, but the existence of the satellite was later refuted. [cite web | last = Johnston | first = William Robert | date = March 5, 2007 | url = http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/asteroidmoonsq.html | title = Other Reports of Asteroid/TNO Companions | publisher = Johnson's Archive | accessdate = 2007-03-14 ]

Radio signals from spacecraft in orbit around Mars and/or on its surface have been used to estimate the mass of Pallas from the tiny perturbations induced by it onto the motion of Mars.

The "Dawn" Mission team was granted viewing time on the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2007 for a once-in-twenty-year opportunity to view the asteroid at closest approach, to obtain comparative data for Ceres and Vesta. [cite web
author=Staff | date=October 24, 2007
url=http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/index.asp
title=Hubble Images of Asteroids Help Astronomers Prepare for Spacecraft Visit
publisher=JPL/NASA | accessdate=2007-10-27 ]

Characteristics

Both Vesta and Pallas have assumed the title of second largest asteroid from time to time.However, while Pallas is similar to 4 Vesta in volume, [The volume of Pallas is indistinguishable from that of Vesta given the uncertainties of current measurements.] it is significantly less massive. The mass of Pallas is only about 0.3% that of the Moon.

Pallas is farther from the Earth with a much lower albedo than Vesta, and consequently appears dimmer. Indeed, the much smaller 7 Iris marginally exceeds Pallas in mean opposition magnitude. [cite web
last=Odeh | first=Moh'd | url=http://jas.org.jo/ast.html
title=The Brightest Asteroids
publisher=Jordanian Astronomical Society
accessdate=2007-07-16 ] Pallas' mean opposition magnitude is +8.0, which is well within the range of 10×50 binoculars, but unlike Ceres and Vesta, it will require more powerful optical aid to view at small elongations, when its magnitude can drop as low as +10.6. During rare perihelic oppositions, Pallas can reach a magnitude of +6.4, right on the edge of naked-eye visibility.cite book
author=Menzel, Donald H.; Pasachoff, Jay M.
year=1983
title=A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets
edition=2nd edition
publisher=Houghton Mifflin
pages=p. 391
location=Boston, MA
id=ISBN 0395348358 ] During late February 2014, Pallas will shine at magnitude 6.96.

Pallas has unusual dynamic parameters for such a large body. Its orbit is highly inclined and somewhat eccentric, despite being at the same distance from the sun as the central part of the main belt. Furthermore, its axial tilt is very high, either 78±13° or 65±12° (based on ambiguous lightcurve data, the pole points towards either ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (−12°, 35°) or (43°, 193°) with a 10° uncertainty;cite journal
author=Torppa, J.; "et al."
title=Shapes and rotational properties of thirty asteroids from photometric data
journal=Icarus | year=2003
volume=164 | issue=2 | pages=346–383
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Icar..164..346T
accessdate=2007-03-15
doi=10.1016/S0019-1035(03)00146-5 ] data from the Hubble Space Telescope obtained in 2007 as well as the observations by the Keck telescope in 2003–2005 favour the first solution.cite web|title=Asteroid 2 Pallas Physical Properties from Near-Infrared High-Angular Resolution Imagery|author=Carry, B.; "et al."|format=pdf|year=2007| url=http://www.eso.org/sci/activities/santiago/projects/PlanetaryGroup/journal_club/slides/ESO.JournalClub-2007.08.14-BenoitCARRY.pdf] ) This means that, every Palladian summer and winter, large parts of the surface are in constant sunlight or constant darkness for a time of the order of an Earth year.

Based on spectroscopic observations, the primary component of the Pallas surface material is a silicate that is low in iron and water. Minerals of this type include olivine and
pyroxene, which are found in CM chondrules. [cite journal
author=Feierberg, M. A.; Larson, H. P.; Lebofsky, L. A.
title=The 3 Micron Spectrum of Asteroid 2 Pallas.
journal=Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
year=1982 | volume=14 | pages=719
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1982BAAS...14..719F
accessdate=2007-03-19 ] The surface composition of Pallas is very similar to the Renazzo carbonaceous chondrite (CR) meteorites, which is even lower in hydrous minerals than the CM type.cite journal
author=Sato, Kimiyasu; Miyamoto, Masamichi; Zolensky, Michael E.
title=Absorption bands near 3 m in diffuse reflectance spectra of carbonaceous chondrites: Comparison with asteroids
journal=Meteoritics | year=1997 | volume=32 | pages=503–507
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1997M%26PS...32..503S
accessdate=2007-03-14 ] The Renazzo meteorite was discovered in Italy in 1824 and is one of the most primitive meteorites known. [cite news
title=Earliest Meteorites Provide New Piece in Planetary Formation Puzzle.
date=September 20, 2005
publisher=Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
url=http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/meteorite.asp
accessdate=2006-05-24 ]

Very little is known of Palladian surface features. Hubble images from 2007 show pixel-to-pixel variation (pixel resolution is ~70 km), but Pallas' 12% albedo placed such features at the lower end of detectability. There is little variability between lightcurves obtained through visible-light and infrared filters, but significant deviations in the ultraviolet, suggesting large surface or compositional features near 285 and 75° west longitude. Rotation appears to be prograde.

It is possible that the largest asteroids, including Pallas, are protoplanets. During the planetary formation stage of the solar system, objects grew in size through an accretion process to approximately this size. Many of these objects were incorporated into larger bodies, which became the planets, while others were destroyed in collisions with other protoplanets. Pallas is a likely survivor from the early stages of planetary formation. [cite journal
author=McCord, T. B.; McFadden, L. A.; Russell, C. T.; Sotin, C.; Thomas, P. C.
title=Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas: Protoplanets, Not Asteroids
journal=Transactions of the American Geophysical Union
year=2006 | volume=87 | issue=10 | pages=105
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998RPPh...61...77K
accessdate=2007-03-19 ]

Pallas was among the "candidate planets" in an early draft of the IAU's 2006 definition of planet, but does not qualify in the final definition because it has not "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit. cite web
url = http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0603/
title = IAU 2006 General Assembly: Result of the IAU Resolution votes
publisher=IAU | accessdate = 2008-08-16 ] cite news
first=Paul | last=Rincon
title=Planets plan boosts tally to 12
publisher=BBC News | date=August 16, 2006
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4795755.stm
accessdate=2007-03-17 ] In the future, it is possible that Pallas may be classified as a dwarf planet, if it is found to have a surface shaped by hydrostatic equilibrium. However, recent Hubble images make that prospect unlikely, as they reveal a slightly uneven surface.

Exploration

Pallas has not been visited by spacecraft, but if the "Dawn" probe is successful in studying 4 Vesta and 1 Ceres, it is possible its mission may be extended to include a flyby of Pallas as Pallas crosses the ecliptic. However, due to the high orbital inclination of Pallas, it will not be possible for "Dawn" to enter orbit.cite web | year=2007 | url = http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/near_earth_objects/asteroids_and_comets/asteroids.html | title = Notable Asteroids | publisher = The Planetary Society | accessdate = 2007-03-17 ] [cite journal
last=Perozzi | first=Ettore
coauthors=Rossia, Alessandro; Valsecchid, Giovanni B.
title=Basic targeting strategies for rendezvous and flyby missions to the near-Earth asteroids
journal=Planetary and Space Science | year=2001
volume=49 | issue=1 | pages=3–22
doi=10.1016/S0032-0633(00)00124-0 | accessdate=2007-12-13 ]

ee also

* Pallas in fiction
* List of Solar System bodies formerly considered planets

References

External links

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*
* cite journal | author=Tedesco, Edward F.; Noah, Paul V.; Noah, Meg; Price, Stephan D. | title=The Supplemental IRAS Minor Planet Survey | journal=The Astronomical Journal | year=2002 | volume=123 | issue=2 | pages=1056–1085 | url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AJ....123.1056T
accessdate=2007-03-15 | doi = 10.1086/338320
*—Horizons can be used to obtain a current ephemeris.