1620 Geographos
From Free net encyclopedia
| density=2.0? g/cm³ | gravity=~0.0008 m/s² | escape_velocity=~0.0015 km/s | rotation=0.217 d (5.2 h) | spectral_class=S | abs_mag=15.60 | albedo=0.10 | temperature=~249 K}}
The asteroid 1620 Geographos was discovered on September 14, 1951 at the Palomar Observatory by Albert Wilson and Rudolph Minkowski. It was originally given the provisional designation 1951 RA. Its name means geographer and was chosen to honour the National Geographic Society.
Geographos is Mars-crosser asteroid and a near-Earth object belonging to the Apollos. In 1994, during the asteroid's closest approach to Earth in two centuries, a radar study of it was conducted by the Deep Space Network at Goldstone, California. The resultant images show Geographos to be the most elongated object in the solar system; it measures 5.1×1.8 km.
Geographos is an S-type asteroid, meaning that it is highly reflective and composed of nickel-iron mixed with iron- and magnesium-silicates.
External links
Template:MinorPlanets Navigator
| The minor planetsedit |
| Vulcanoids | Near-Earth asteroids | Main belt | Jupiter Trojans | Centaurs | Damocloids | Comets | Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud) |
| For other objects and regions, see: asteroid groups and families, binary asteroids, asteroid moons and the Solar system For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names. |