Discovered by Auguste Charlois Observation arc 123.99 yr (45289 d) Perihelion 2.0475 AU (306.30 Gm) Asteroid family Baptistina family Discoverer Auguste Charlois Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 9 September 1890 Aphelion 2.4805 AU (371.08 Gm) Discovered 9 September 1890 Orbits Sun Discovery site Nice Observatory | |
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Minor planet category Main belt,
Baptistina family Similar Asteroid belt, Solar System, Sun, 441 Bathilde, 367 Amicitia | ||
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. 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. 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
298 Baptistina Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA