216 Kleopatra

main-belt asteroid

216 Kleopatra is a Main belt asteroid found by Johann Palisa on April 10, 1880 in Pola. It is named after Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. It is a dumbbell-shaped M-class (metallic) asteroid.

216 Kleopatra
Discovery
Discovered byJohann Palisa
Discovery dateApril 10, 1880
Designations
A905 OA, A910 RA
Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 30 January, 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion523.049 Gm (3.496 AU)
Perihelion312.544 Gm (2.089 AU)
417.796 Gm (2.793 AU)
Eccentricity0.252
1704.704 d (4.67 a)
17.82 km/s
55.259°
Inclination13.136°
215.672°
179.099°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions217 × 94 × 81 km
Massunknown
Mean density
3.5+
5.385 h
Albedo0.116
Temperatureunknown
Spectral type
M
7.3
Dog bone shaped asteroid Kleopatra

Kleopatra is an unusual object. Its odd shape was revealed by adaptive optics on the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla. By bouncing radar signals off the asteroid, a team of astronomers at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico were able to develop a more detailed computer model of its shape, which confirmed the dog-bone like shape. A favored explanation is that Kleopatra is a contact binary: two similarly-sized asteroids that have hit and stuck together instead of breaking apart.

Kleopatra is a fairly big asteroid, measuring 217 × 94 × 81 km. It is believed to be a loosely packed metallic object, based on its radar albedo.

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