The Asteroid (9) Metis in 2011!

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Jun 19

2011

by Antonio Rosa Campos

Antonio Rosa Campos
[email protected]
CEAMIG - REA / Brazil - AWB



On 28 July next, the asteroid (9) Metis will be at their closest approach to Earth, when it will reach magnitude 9.6, therefore already within the limits of observable magnitudes of small optical instruments, binoculars, spotting scopes and telescopes. The table below shows their anniversaries and search a map of the sky, aiming for its location in the coming days.

Note: = (AU) * Astronomical Unit. Unit of distance equal to 149,600 x 106m. It was agreed to define the astronomical unit of distance, becoming a reference length as the semi-major axis would have the orbit of a planet ideal m = 0, undisturbed, and whose period of revolution was equal to the Earth.

As shown by their number in order of discovery, Metis was discovered on April 26, 1848 by Irish astronomer Andrew Graham (1815-1848) Markree Observatory. Its name is a reference to Metis, the first wife of Zeus (Jupiter), a sorceress who offered him a magic potion that Cronos, but drinking, forced her to return her children. (Mourão, 1987).

Good comment!

Bibliography:

Mourão, Ronaldo Rogério de Freitas - Dicionário Enciclopédico de Astronomia e Astronaútica, Ed. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro (RJ) - 1987, 914P.

Campos, Antônio Rosa - Almanaque Astronômico Brasileiro 2011, Ed. CEAMIG (Centro de Estudos Astronômicos de Minas Gerais), Belo Horizonte (MG) - 2010, 93P.