Alternative names 1904 NC Aphelion 3.9372 AU (589.00 Gm) Discovered 10 January 1904 Orbits Sun | Discovery date 10 January 1904 Observation arc 114.65 yr (41876 d) Perihelion 3.3284 AU (497.92 Gm) Inclination 4.4174° | |
Similar 528 Rezia, 540 Rosamunde, 509 Iolanda, 417 Suevia, 471 Papagena | ||
522 Helga (also known as 1904 NC) is an asteroid (minor planet) orbiting the Sun discovered in 1904 by Max Wolf in Heidelberg. Helga is notable for being the first such object to be shown to be in a stable but chaotic orbit in resonance with Jupiter, its Lyapunov time being relatively short, at 6,900 yr. Despite this, its orbit appears to be stable, as the eccentricity and precession rates are such that it avoids close encounters with Jupiter.
522 Helga was "named by Lt. Th. Lassen, orbit computer" according to Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets (note that computer does not refer to a personal computer, i.e. a machine, but rather to a person actually doing the necessary calculations).
References
522 Helga Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA