At 10:29 AM 10/14/01, Steve Sloan wrote: >Ronn Blankenship wrote: > > > "(8990) Compassion = 1980 DN > > Discovered 1980 Feb. 19 at the Klet Observatory. > > Named by the Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature to honor > > the compassion of people around the world for the friends > > and families of the of disasters, exemplified by the > > terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 2001 Sept. > > 11, with the hope that they will overcome their . > >I sure hope that's not an Earth-crossing asteroid. I'd hate to >get killed by an asteroid named Compassion... ;-)
Here are the latest (14 Oct 2001) orbital elements from the Minor Planet Center at Harvard: 08990 12.8 0.15 K01AI 273.27094 60.81575 129.67481 8.07545 **0.1029947** 0.17561091 *3.1581667* 1 MPC 32172 50 5 1980-1998 0.71 M-v 38h Nakano 0000 (8990) Compassion 19980626 08991 12.9 0.15 K01AI 280.68885 313.29522 286.63526 6.79542 **0.1833742** 0.21187051 *2.7866924* 1 MPC 32172 32 9 1979-1998 0.83 M-v 38h Williams 0000 (8991) Solidarity 19980626 08992 13.9 0.15 K01AI 292.92186 132.72088 188.84822 7.90602 **0.2118796** 0.26692430 *2.3889697* 1 MPC 38014 58 6 1954-2000 0.64 M-v 38h Williams 0000 (8992) Magnanimity 20000111 where I have indicated the semi-major axis a (in AU) by single asterisks and the eccentricity e by double asterisks. Since the perihelion distance q=a(1-e), all three objects seem to be main-belt asteroids, with the one with the smallest orbit and highest eccentricity, Magnanimity, having a perihelion distance of 1.882 AU, which is outside the orbit of Mars. Hence the Earth is safe from Compassion, Solidarity, and Magnanimity. -- Ronn! :) God bless America, Land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam� God bless America! My home, sweet home. -- Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
