298 Baptistina

298 Baptistina

Asteroid 298 Baptistina (apparent magnitude 15.2) near a mag 15.3 star.
Discovery
Discovered by	Auguste Charlois
Discovery date	September 9, 1890
Designations
Minor planet category	Main belt, Baptistina family
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion	2.481 AU (371.081 Gm)
Perihelion	2.047 AU (306.285 Gm)
Semi-major axis	2.264 AU (338.683 Gm)
Eccentricity	0.096
Orbital period	3.41 a (1244.205 d)
Average orbital speed	19.8 km/s
Mean anomaly	74.903°
Inclination	6.285°
Longitude of ascending node	8.346°
Argument of perihelion	134.492°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	13–30 km[1][2]
Rotation period	16.23±0.02 hours[2]
Spectral type	X-type
Absolute magnitude (H)	11.0

298 Baptistina is an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt. It is the namesake of the Baptistina family. It was discovered on September 9, 1890, by Auguste Charlois of Nice. The source of its name is unknown.^[3] It measures somewhere around 13 to 30 kilometres (8 to 19 mi) in diameter. Although it has an orbit similar to the Flora family asteroids, Baptistina is an unrelated interloper.^[4] It was once considered a possible source of the impactor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, a possibility ruled out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer in 2011. (See Baptistina family.)

References

1. Reddy V., et al. (2008). Composition of 298 Baptistina: Implications for K–T Impactor Link, Asteroids, Comets, Meteors conference.
2. Majaess D., Higgins D., Molnar L., Haegert M., Lane D., Turner D., Nielsen I. (2008). New Constraints on the Asteroid 298 Baptistina, the Alleged Family Member of the K/T Impactor, accepted for publication in the JRASC
3. Lutz D. Schmadel, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, p.41.
4. M. Florczak et al. A Visible Spectroscopic Survey of the Flora Clan, Icarus Vol. 133, p. 233 (1998)

External links

• 298 Baptistina at the JPL Small-Body Database

• Discovery · Orbit diagram · Orbital elements · Physical parameters