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5145 Pholus ( foe'-l?s, from ) is a Centaur
Centaur (planetoid)

The centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets named after the mythological race of centaurs. The name was chosen because they behave as half asteroid and half comet....
 (minor planetoid) of the solar system
Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and those Astronomical object bound to it by gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known Natural satellite, and billions of Small Solar System body....
 running in an eccentric orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
, with a perihelion less than Saturn's and aphelion greater than Neptune's. Close approches of the object are rare: it has not come within one astronomical unit
Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length based on the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun. The precise value of the AU is currently accepted as 149,597,870,691 Plus-minus sign 6 metres ....
 of a planet since 764 BC, and will not again until 5290. It is believed that Pholus originated as a Kuiper belt
Kuiper belt

The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 55 Astronomical unit from the Sun....
 object.

It was discovered by David L. Rabinowitz
David L. Rabinowitz

David Lincoln Rabinowitz is a researcher at Yale University. He has built Charge-coupled device cameras and software for the detection of near-Earth asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects, and his research has helped reduce the assumed number of near-Earth asteroids by half, from 1,000-2,000 to 500-1,000 He has also assisted in the detection of...
, then of the University of Arizona
University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and Space grant colleges Public university institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States....
's Spacewatch Project, and named after Pholus
Pholus

Pholus commonly refers to:* A Centaur planetoid, 5145 Pholus, discovered in 1992 by David L. Rabinowitz* Pholus , a wise Centaur killed indirectly through the actions of Herakles...
, the brother of the mythological Chiron
Chiron

In Greek mythology, Chiron or Cheiron was held as the superlative centaur among his brethren. Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents....
, after which 2060 Chiron
2060 Chiron

2060 Chiron is a planetoid in the outer solar system. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal , it was the first known member of a new class of objects now known as centaur s, with an orbit between those of Saturn and Uranus ....
 was named in order to follow the tradition of naming this class of outer planet crossing objects after Centaurs.

Pholus was the second Centaur
Centaur (planetoid)

The centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets named after the mythological race of centaurs. The name was chosen because they behave as half asteroid and half comet....
 type asteroid to be discovered and was quickly found to be quite red in color, for which it has been occasionally nicknamed "Big Red".






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5145 Pholus ( foe'-l?s, from ) is a Centaur
Centaur (planetoid)

The centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets named after the mythological race of centaurs. The name was chosen because they behave as half asteroid and half comet....
 (minor planetoid) of the solar system
Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and those Astronomical object bound to it by gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known Natural satellite, and billions of Small Solar System body....
 running in an eccentric orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
, with a perihelion less than Saturn's and aphelion greater than Neptune's. Close approches of the object are rare: it has not come within one astronomical unit
Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length based on the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun. The precise value of the AU is currently accepted as 149,597,870,691 Plus-minus sign 6 metres ....
 of a planet since 764 BC, and will not again until 5290. It is believed that Pholus originated as a Kuiper belt
Kuiper belt

The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 55 Astronomical unit from the Sun....
 object.

It was discovered by David L. Rabinowitz
David L. Rabinowitz

David Lincoln Rabinowitz is a researcher at Yale University. He has built Charge-coupled device cameras and software for the detection of near-Earth asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects, and his research has helped reduce the assumed number of near-Earth asteroids by half, from 1,000-2,000 to 500-1,000 He has also assisted in the detection of...
, then of the University of Arizona
University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and Space grant colleges Public university institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States....
's Spacewatch Project, and named after Pholus
Pholus

Pholus commonly refers to:* A Centaur planetoid, 5145 Pholus, discovered in 1992 by David L. Rabinowitz* Pholus , a wise Centaur killed indirectly through the actions of Herakles...
, the brother of the mythological Chiron
Chiron

In Greek mythology, Chiron or Cheiron was held as the superlative centaur among his brethren. Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents....
, after which 2060 Chiron
2060 Chiron

2060 Chiron is a planetoid in the outer solar system. Discovered in 1977 by Charles T. Kowal , it was the first known member of a new class of objects now known as centaur s, with an orbit between those of Saturn and Uranus ....
 was named in order to follow the tradition of naming this class of outer planet crossing objects after Centaurs.

Pholus was the second Centaur
Centaur (planetoid)

The centaurs are an unstable orbital class of minor planets named after the mythological race of centaurs. The name was chosen because they behave as half asteroid and half comet....
 type asteroid to be discovered and was quickly found to be quite red in color, for which it has been occasionally nicknamed "Big Red". The color has been speculated to be due to organic compounds on its surface.

The surface composition of Pholus has been estimated from its reflectance spectrum using two spatially segregated components: dark amorphous carbon
Amorphous carbon

Amorphous carbon or free, reactive carbon, is an Allotropes of carbon that does not have any crystalline structure. As with all Amorphous solid materials, some short-range order can be observed....
 and an intimate mixture of water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 ice, methanol
Methanol

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula carbonhydrogen3oxygenhydrogen ....
 ice, olivine
Olivine

The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals with the formula 2siliconoxygen4. It is one of the most common minerals on Earth, and has also been identified in meteorites and on the Moon, Mars, and comet Wild 2....
 grains, and complex organic compounds (tholin
Tholin

Tholin , is a heteropolymer molecule formed by solar ultraviolet irradiation of simple organic compounds such as methane or ethane. Tholins do not form naturally on modern-day Earth, but are found in great abundance on the surface of icy bodies in the outer solar system....
s). The carbon black component was used to match the low albedo
Albedo

The albedo of an object is the extent to which it diffusely reflects light from the Sun. It is therefore a more specific form of the term reflectivity....
 of the object.

Unlike the first Centaur, 2060 Chiron, Pholus has shown no signs of cometary activity.

The diameter of Pholus is estimated to be 185±16 km .

External links

  • from JPL (Java) /