Discovered by R. H. McNaught Alternative names 1991 DA Orbits Sun Discoverer Robert H. McNaught | Discovery date 18 February 1991 Discovered 18 February 1991 Spectral type S-type asteroid Discovery site Siding Spring Observatory | |
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Pronunciation DAM-ə-kleez (/ˈdæməkliːz/) Minor planet category distant · centaur · damocloid Adjectives Damoclean (/dæməˈkliːən/) Named after Damocles (Greek mythology) Similar Solar System, Sun, 8405 Asbolus, 10370 Hylonome, 944 Hidalgo | ||
5335 Damocles (DAM-ə-kleez) provisional designation 1991 DA, is a centauer and the namesake of the damocloids, a group of minor planets which are inactive nuclei of the Halley-type and long-period comets. It was discovered on 18 February 1991, by Australian astronomer Robert McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. It is named after Damocles, a figure of Greek mythology.
Description
When Damocles was discovered, it was found to be on an orbit completely different from all others known. Damocles's orbit reached from inside the aphelion of Mars to as far as Uranus. It seemed to be in transition from a near-circular outer Solar System orbit to an eccentric orbit taking it to the inner Solar System. Duncan Steel, Gerhard Hahn, Mark Bailey, and David Asher carried out projections of its long-term dynamical evolution, and found a good probability that it will become an Earth-crosser asteroid, and may spend a quarter of its life in such an orbit. Damocles has a stable orbit for tens of thousands of years before and after the present, because its highly inclined orbit does not take it near Jupiter or Saturn.
There is some speculation that 5335 Damocles may have a meteor shower associated with it on Mars from the direction of Draco. The object has a Mars minimum orbit intersection distance (Mars–MOID) of 0.057 AU (8,500,000 km; 5,300,000 mi) and a Uranus–MOID of 0.3 AU (45,000,000 km; 28,000,000 mi).
As of 2014, Damocles is 21.8 AU from the Sun with an apparent magnitude of 26.9.
The adjectival form is Damoclean, /dæməˈkliːən/. Naming citation was published on 1 September 1993 (M.P.C. 22508).