Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
Dog-Bone Shaped Asteroid 216 Kleopatra
Explanation:
An asteroid [ http://www.seds.org…] the size of New Jersey [ http://www.state.nj…] that orbits the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] between Mars [ http://www.solarvie…] and Jupiter [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] has been discovered to have an unusual dog-bone shape. Asteroid 216 Kleopatra [ http://echo.jpl.nas…], recently mapped with Earth-based radar [ http://www-paoc.mit…], reflects radio waves [ http://imagers.gsfc…] so well that astronomers speculate [ http://echo.jpl.nas…] it is composed mostly of metals such as nickel [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] and iron [ http://www.webeleme…]. The unusual shape and composition of 216 Kleopatra [ http://sc6.sc.eso.o…] may derive from the central regions of a tremendous collision between larger asteroids [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] billions of years ago. Kleopatra [ http://www.space.co…] is not completely solid - its surface is loosely consolidated rubble, although its core may contain large solid-metal lodes. Kleopatra [ http://www.spaceref…] will never strike the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], but it may one day serve as a valuable source of raw building materials.
Credit and Copyright:
Stephen Ostro [ mailto:ostro@echo.jp l.nasa.gov ] et al. (JPL [ http://echo.jpl.nas…]), Arecibo Radio Telescope [ http://www.naic.edu…], NSF [ http://www.nsf.gov/], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
asteroid
keyword:
Kleopatra
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
Jersey
facet_where:
New Jersey
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Galileo
facet_what:
ESO
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Mars
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
asteroid
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap000510

Dog-Bone Shaped Asteroid 216 Kleopatra
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