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