1036 Ganymed

1036 Ganymed

1036 Ganymed is a stony asteroid that moves around the Sun in a stretched path, called an eccentric orbit. It was found by German astronomer Walter Baade at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg on October 23, 1924. The asteroid is named after Ganymede from Greek mythology, a figure from old stories.

Ganymed is one of the biggest objects that comes close to Earth’s path around the Sun, but it does not cross Earth’s orbit. It is about 35 kilometers or 22 miles wide, making it the largest of these near-Earth objects. This asteroid spins once on its axis in about 10.3 hours.

Orbit and classification

Ganymed is an Amor asteroid, a type of near-Earth asteroid that comes close to Earth's path but does not cross it. It travels around the Sun at distances ranging from 1.2 to 4.1 AU roughly every 4 years and 4 months. This path is stretched out and tilted, making its orbit unusual.

Because of its stretched path, Ganymed will come very close to the planet Mars in the year 2176.

Name

The minor planet Ganymed was named after Ganymede from Greek mythology. Ganymede was a Trojan prince. The same name is used for Jupiter's moon, "Ganymede", found in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei.

Physical characteristics

Ganymed has been studied a lot since it was found in 1924. It is a stony asteroid, made of iron and minerals with magnesium and silicon. Scientists think its surface is covered with a special mineral called orthopyroxene.

Space telescopes show that Ganymed is about 32 to 38 kilometers wide. It spins around once every about 10.3 hours. Telescopes and radar pictures show that Ganymed looks almost round and its surface seems fairly smooth and similar all over.

absolute magnitude

S-type asteroid

Tholen

SMASS

S3OS2

magnesium

silicates

orthopyroxenes

IRAS

Akari satellite

NEOWISE

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

WISE

albedo

occultation

lightcurves

photometric

Frederick Pilcher

G50

rotation period

U=3-/3/3

spin axes

ecliptic coordinates

Arecibo radio telescope