(26763) Peirithoos

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Asteroid
(26763) Peirithoos
Properties of the orbit ( animation )
Epoch:  4th November 2013 ( JD 2,456,600.5)
Orbit type Jupiter Trojan (L 4 )
Major semi-axis 5.3297  AU
eccentricity 0.0688
Perihelion - aphelion 4.9632 AU - 5.6963 AU
Inclination of the orbit plane 1.2061 °
Length of the ascending node 100.1259 °
Argument of the periapsis 305.8636 °
Sidereal period 12.30 a
Mean orbital velocity 12.92 km / s
Physical Properties
Absolute brightness 12.4 mag
history
Explorer Cornelis Johannes van Houten ,
Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld ,
Tom Gehrels
Date of discovery September 24, 1960
Another name 2706 PL , 2000 AU 232
Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . The affiliation to an asteroid family is automatically determined from the AstDyS-2 database . Please also note the note on asteroid items.

(26763) Peirithoos is an asteroid belonging to the group of Jupiter Trojans . This describes asteroids that orbit the sun on the Lagrange points on the orbit of the planet Jupiter . It is assigned to the Lagrange point L 4 , that is (26763) Peirithoos is running 60 ° ahead of Jupiter in its orbit around the sun.

The asteroid was discovered on September 24, 1960 by the Dutch astronomer couple Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld . The discovery came about as part of the Palomar-Leiden survey , during which Tom Gehrels examined field plates recorded at the University of Leiden with the 120 cm Oschin Schmidt telescope of the Palomar observatory .

(26763) Peirithoos was named after Peirithoos , king of the Lapiths in Thessaly and friend of Theseus . It was named on March 18, 2003. Trojans running ahead are named after Greek heroes.

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