298 Baptistina facts for kids
Asteroid 298 Baptistina (apparent magnitude 15.2) near a mag 15.3 star
|
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Auguste Charlois |
| Discovery date | 9 September 1890 |
| Designations | |
| MPC designation | (298) Baptistina |
| Main belt, Baptistina family |
|
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 31 July 2016 (JD 2457600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 123.99 yr (45289 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.4805 AU (371.08 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 2.0475 AU (306.30 Gm) |
| 2.2640 AU (338.69 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.095630 |
| 3.41 yr (1244.3 d) | |
| 209.69° | |
|
Mean motion
|
0° 17m 21.588s / day |
| Inclination | 6.2884° |
| 8.2161° | |
| 135.004° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 13–30 km |
| 16.23 h (0.676 d) 16.23±0.02 hours |
|
| X-type | |
| 11.2 | |
298 Baptistina is a common Main belt asteroid. It was found by Auguste Charlois on September 9, 1890 in Nice.
Although it has an orbit similar to the Flora family asteroids, it was found to be an unrelated asteroid.
A 2007 US-Czech study decided that 298 Baptistina may be the biggest remnant of a 170 km (110 mile) asteroid that was destroyed about 160 million years ago in an impact with a smaller body, making the Baptistina family of asteroids and that the Baptistina event may have created the eventual impact asteroid believed by many to have caused the K/T extinction event about 65 million years ago. This is the K/T impactor believed to be shown in the geological record. This theory has not, as yet, found general acceptance among the scientific community.
See also
In Spanish: (298) Baptistina para niños
