149 Medusa
Synodic rotation period | 26.023 h (1.0843 d)[4] 26.038 h[5] | |
| 0.2334±0.022 | ||
| Temperature | ~189 K | |
| S | ||
| 10.79 | ||
Medusa (
plane of the ecliptic.[3]
When it was discovered, Medusa was by far the smallest asteroid found (although this was not known at that time). Since then, many thousands of smaller asteroids have been found. It was also the closest asteroid to the Sun discovered up to that point, beating the long-held record of 8 Flora. It remained the closest asteroid to the Sun until 433 Eros and 434 Hungaria were found in 1898, leading to the discovery of two new families of asteroids inward from the 4:1 Kirkwood gap which forms the boundary of the main belt.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000)". IAU-Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Medusa". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b "The Asteroid Orbital Elements Database". astorb. Lowell Observatory.
- ^ NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ Bibcode:2011MPBu...38...76P.
External links
- 149 Medusa at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
- 149 Medusa at the JPL Small-Body Database
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