2101 Adonis
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Eugene Delporte |
| Discovery date | February 12, 1936 |
| Designations | |
|
Named after
|
Adonis |
| 1936 CA | |
| Apollo, PHA,[1] Mars crosser | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch October 22, 2004 (JD 2453300.5) | |
| Aphelion | 3.307 AU (494.673 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.441 AU (65.906 Gm) |
| 1.874 AU (280.289 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.765 |
| 2.56 a (936.742 d) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
18.10 km/s |
| 307.406° | |
| Inclination | 1.349° |
| 350.580° | |
| 42.438° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 0.5–1.2 km[2] |
| Mass | 0.13–1.8×1012 kg |
| 0.0001–0.0003 m/s² | |
| 0.0003–0.0006 km/s | |
| Albedo | 0.20–0.04[2] |
| Temperature | 197–207 K |
| 18.7 | |
2101 Adonis was one of the first near-Earth asteroids to be discovered. It was discovered by Eugene Delporte in 1936 and named after Adonis, the beautiful youth with whom the goddess Venus fell in love. 2101 Adonis is believed to measure approximately 1 km in diameter.[2]
In the close approach of February 1936 that led to its initial discovery, the asteroid was observed for two months, but not enough observations could be made to calculate an orbit, and Adonis was a lost asteroid until 1977 when it was rediscovered by Charles T. Kowal.
Adonis was the second Apollo asteroid to be discovered (after 1862 Apollo itself). It may be an extinct comet, and may be the source of some meteor showers.[3]
2101 Adonis is a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) because its minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) is less than 0.05 AU and its diameter is greater than 150 meters. The Earth-MOID is 0.0117 AU (1,750,000 km; 1,090,000 mi).[1] Its orbit is well-determined for the next several hundred years.
Adonis makes close approaches to Venus, Earth, and Mars.[1] It comes within 30 Gm of the Earth six times in the 21st century, the nearest being 0.03569 AU (5,339,000 km; 3,318,000 mi) on 7 February 2036.[4]
