[meteorite-list] Trojan Asteroid Patroclus: Comet in Disguise?
From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Feb 2 01:08:34 2006 Message-ID: <00a001c627bf$1758f320$aee58c46_at_ATARIENGINE> Hi, The really neat thing about this configuration is the view from the surface of (either) one looking toward the other. Unlike our puny Full Moon, which fills only 1/2 degree of the sky, the other binary would appear to loom in the sky spanning 10.67 degrees! 21 times the diameter of a Full Moon! Here is obviously the place to build the Honeymoon Hotel of the Future. Come to Patroclus! (Can't we do something about that name?) Depending on the rotational period of each object, the full "lunar" cycle would repeat every few days. But, if you get nervous about things falling on you, you might not want to vacation someplace where there's a "world" hanging in the sky, obviously ready to drop... I guess the 76-mile one is the "world" and the 70-mile one is the "moon." Sterling K. Webb -------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Baalke" <baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov> To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 6:48 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Trojan Asteroid Patroclus: Comet in Disguise? > > http://www.keckobservatory.org/news/science/060201_patroclus/index.html > > Trojan Asteroid Patroclus: Comet in Disguise? > the larger piece is 122 kilometer (76 miles) wide at > its largest point, and the similar-sized partner is 112 kilometers (70 > miles). The two pieces orbit their center of mass every four days, > separated by a distance of about 680 kilometers (423 miles). Received on Thu 02 Feb 2006 01:08:30 AM PST |
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