Discovered by H. Goldschmidt Alternative names A901 SB; A912 HC Aphelion 535.625 Gm (3.580 AU) Discovered 5 October 1855 | Discovery date October 5, 1855 Minor planet category Main belt Perihelion 286.217 Gm (1.913 AU) Orbits Sun Discoverer Hermann Goldschmidt Discovery site Paris Observatory | |
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Similar Hermann Goldschmidt discoveries, Other celestial objects | ||
36 Atalante /ˌætəˈlæntiː/ is a large, dark main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by the German-French astronomer H. Goldschmidt on October 5, 1855, and named by French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier after the Greek mythological heroine Atalanta (of which Atalante is the French and German form). The asteroid is also classified as a C-type one, according to the Tholen classification system.
Observation of the asteroid light curve indicates it is rotating with a period of 9.93 ± 0.01 hours. During this interval, the magnitude varies by an amplitude of 0.12 ± 0.02. By combining the results of multiple light curves, the approximate ellipsoidal shape of the object can be estimated. It appears to be slightly elongated, being about 28.2% longer along one axis compared to the other two. Atalante was observed by Arecibo radar in October 2010.
This asteroid shares a mean-motion resonance with the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The computed Lyapunov time for this asteroid is only 4,000 years, indicating that it occupies a highly chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because of gravitational perturbations of the planets. This is the shortest Lyapunov time of the first 100 named asteroids.