Focus On: (3361) Orpheus

Basics

Class: Asteroid
Location: Near Earth, Apollo group
Orbit length (approx): 1.33 years
Discovered: 24th April 1982, 07:12 UTC, from Cerro El Roble Astronomical Station, Chile, by Carlos Torres
Events at time of discovery:

• April 24 – German singer Nicole wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 (held in Britain) with the song Ein Bisschen Frieden.
• – Death of Ville Ritola, Finnish Olympic athlete
• – Birth of Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter, talk show host
• – Birth of David Oliver, American hurdler

Focus On: (1566) Icarus

Basics

Class: S-type/Q-type asteroid
Location: Near Earth, Apollo group
Orbit length (approx): 1.12 years
Discovered: 27th June 1949, 05:44 UTC, from Palomar Observatory, CA, by Walter Baade.
Notes: Icarus has an extremely eccentric orbit (0.83) and measures approximately 1.4 km in diameter. In 1968, it became the first asteroid ever observed by radar. Lowest numbered potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA).
Events at time of discovery:

• June 27 – The 1949 Australian coal strike began.
• – The Liberal Party of Canada led by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent was easily returned to power in the Canadian federal election.
• – Czechoslovakia banned pastoral letters and meetings of Catholic church officials that were not approved by the government.
• – The science fiction TV series Captain Video and His Video Rangers premiered.
• – Birth of Vera Wang, American fashion designer
• – Birth of Stephen Rucker, television and film composer

Focus On: (164) Eva

Basics

Class: CX-type asteroid
Location: Main belt
Orbit length (approx): 4.27 years
Discovered: 12th July 1876 (time unknown), from Paris, France, by Paul-Pierre and Prosper-Mathieu Henry
Notes: Mean radius of just over 100km and the closest of this size to approach the orbit of Mars.
Events at time of discovery:

• July 3 – Birth of George Murray Levick, British Antarctic explorer and naval surgeon
• July 4 – The United States Centennial Exposition is celebrated across the country.
• July 12 – Birth of Max Jacob, French poet
• – Birth of Alphaeus Philemon Cole, American artist, engraver, etcher and supercentenarian
• July 13 – The prosecution of Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman, for using ritualist practices begins.

Focus On: (14) Irene

Basics

Class: S-type asteroid
Location: Main belt
Orbit length (approx): 4.16 years
Discovered: 20th May 1851 at 01:09 UTC, from London, UK, by John Russell Hind
Notes: Large asteroid with axial tilt close to 90 degrees.
Events at time of discovery:

• May 1 – The Great Exhibition opened
• Mid-May to mid-July – Great Flood of 1851, midwestern US
• May 18 – Birth of Simon Kahquados, Potawatomi political activist
• May 20 – Birth of Emile Berliner, German-born American telephone and recording pioneer