Pallas (minor-planet designation:2 Pallas) is thethird-largest asteroid in theSolar System by volume and mass. It is the secondasteroid to have been discovered, afterCeres, and is likely a remnantprotoplanet. Like Ceres, it is believed to have a mineral composition similar tocarbonaceous chondrite meteorites, though significantly less hydrated than Ceres. It is 79% the mass ofVesta and 22% the mass of Ceres, constituting an estimated 7% of the mass of theasteroid belt. Its estimated volume is equivalent to a sphere 507 to 515 kilometers (315 to 320 mi) in diameter, 90–95% the volume of Vesta.
During the planetary formation era of the Solar System, objects grew in size through anaccretion process to approximately the size of Pallas. Most of these protoplanets were incorporated into the growth of larger bodies, which became theplanets, whereas others were ejected by the planets or destroyed in collisions with each other. Pallas, Vesta and Ceres appear to be the only intact bodies from this early stage of planetary formation to survive within the orbit of Neptune.[18]
When Pallas was discovered by the German astronomerHeinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 28 March 1802, it wasconsidered to be a planet,[19] as were other asteroids in the early 19th century. The discovery of many more asteroids after 1845 eventually led to the separate listing of "minor" planets from "major" planets, and the realization in the 1950s that such small bodies did not form in the same way as (other) planets led to the gradual abandonment of the term "minor planet" in favor of "asteroid" (or, for larger bodies such as Pallas, "planetoid").
With an orbital inclination of 34.8°, Pallas's orbit is unusually highly inclined to the plane of the asteroid belt, making Pallas relatively inaccessible to spacecraft, and itsorbital eccentricity is nearly as large as that ofPluto.[20]
The high inclination of the orbit of Pallas results in the possibility of close conjunctions to stars that other solar objects always pass at great angular distance. This resulted in Pallas passingSirius on 9 October 2022, only 8.5 arcminutes southwards,[21] while no planet can get closer than 30 degrees to Sirius.
On the night of 5 April 1779,Charles Messier recorded Pallas on a star chart he used to track the path of a comet, now known asC/1779 A1 (Bode), that he observed in the spring of 1779, but apparently assumed it was nothing more than a star.[22]
In 1801, the astronomerGiuseppe Piazzi discovered an object which he initially believed to be acomet. Shortly thereafter he announced his observations of this object, noting that the slow, uniform motion was uncharacteristic of a comet, suggesting it was a different type of object. This was lost from sight for several months, but was recovered later that year by theBaron von Zach andHeinrich W. M. Olbers after a preliminary orbit was computed byCarl Friedrich Gauss. This object came to be namedCeres, and was the first asteroid to be discovered.[23][24]
A few months later, Olbers was again attempting to locate Ceres when he noticed another moving object in the vicinity. This was the asteroid Pallas, coincidentally passing near Ceres at the time. The discovery of this object created interest in the astronomy community. Before this point it had been speculated by astronomers that there should be a planet in the gap betweenMars andJupiter. Now, unexpectedly, a second such body had been found.[25] When Pallas was discovered, some estimates of its size were as high as 3,380 km in diameter.[26] Even as recently as 1979, Pallas was estimated to be 673 km in diameter, 26% greater than the currently accepted value.[27]
The orbit of Pallas was determined by Gauss, who found the period of 4.6 years was similar to the period for Ceres. Pallas has a relatively high orbitalinclination to the plane of theecliptic.[25]
In 1917, the Japanese astronomerKiyotsugu Hirayama began to study asteroid motions. By plotting the mean orbital motion, inclination, and eccentricity of a set of asteroids, he discovered several distinct groupings. In a later paper he reported a group of three asteroids associated with Pallas, which became named thePallas family, after the largest member of the group.[28] Since 1994 more than 10 members of this family have been identified, with semi-major axes between 2.50 and 2.82 AU and inclinations of 33–38°.[29] The validity of the family was confirmed in 2002 by a comparison of their spectra.[30]
Pallas has been observedoccultingstars several times, including the best-observed of all asteroid occultation events, by 140 observers on 29 May 1983. These measurements resulted in the first accurate calculation of its diameter.[31][32]After an occultation on 29 May 1979, the discovery of a possible tinysatellite with a diameter of about 1 km was reported, which was never confirmed.
Radio signals from spacecraft in orbit aroundMars and/or on its surface have been used to estimate the mass of Pallas from the tiny perturbations induced by it onto the motion of Mars.[33]
TheDawn team was granted viewing time on theHubble Space Telescope in September 2007 for a once-in-twenty-year opportunity to view Pallas at closest approach, to obtain comparative data for Ceres and Vesta.[34][35]
High-resolution images of the north (at left) and south (at right) hemispheres of Pallas, made possible by the Adaptive-Optics (AO)-fed SPHERE imager on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2020.[36] Two large impact basins could have been created byPalladian asteroid–forming impacts. The bright spot in the southern hemisphere is reminiscent of the salt deposits on Ceres.
The symbols for Ceres and Pallas, as published in 1802
Pallas is an epithet of the Greek goddessAthena (Ancient Greek:Παλλάς Ἀθηνᾶ).[37][38] In some versions of the myth, Athena killedPallas, daughter ofTriton, then adopted her friend's name out of mourning.[39]
The adjectival form of the name isPalladian.[5] Thed is part of theoblique stem of the Greek name, which appears before a vowel but disappears before thenominative ending-s. The oblique form is seen in the Italian and Russian names for the asteroid,Pallade andПаллада (Pallada).[g]The stony-ironpallasite meteorites are not Palladian, being named instead after the German naturalistPeter Simon Pallas. The chemical elementpalladium, on the other hand, was named after the asteroid, which had been discovered just before the element.[40]
The oldastronomical symbol of Pallas, still used in astrology, is a spear or lance,⟨⟩, one of the symbols of the goddess. The blade was most often alozenge (◊), but various graphic variants were published, including an acute/ellipticleaf shape, a cordate leaf shape (♤:), and a triangle (△); the last made it effectively thealchemical symbol for sulfur,⟨⟩. The generic asteroid symbol of a disk with its discovery number,⟨②⟩, was introduced in 1852 and quickly became the norm.[41][42] The iconic lozenge symbol was resurrected for astrological use in 1973.[43]
Pallas has a high eccentricity and a highly inclined orbit
Pallas has unusual dynamic parameters for such a large body. Itsorbit is highlyinclined and moderatelyeccentric, despite being at the same distance from the Sun as the central part of theasteroid belt. Furthermore, Pallas has a very highaxial tilt of 84°, with its north pole pointing towardsecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (30°, −16°) with a 5° uncertainty in the Ecliptic J2000.0 reference frame.[10] This means that every Palladian summer and winter, large parts of the surface are in constant sunlight or constant darkness for a time on the order of an Earth year, with areas near the poles experiencing continuous sunlight for as long as two years.[10]
Pallas is in anear-1:1 orbital resonance with Ceres, which is probably coincidental.[44] Pallas also has a near-18:7 resonance (91,000-year period) and an approximate 5:2 resonance (83-year period) withJupiter.[45]
Animation of the Palladian orbit in the inner Solar System
Pallas
Ceres
Jupiter
Mars
Earth
Sun
An animation of Pallas's near-18:7 resonance withJupiter. The orbit of Pallas is green when above the ecliptic and red when below. It only marches clockwise: it never halts or reverses course (i.e. nolibration). The motion of Pallas is shown in a reference frame that rotates about theSun (the center dot) with a period equal to Jupiter's orbital period. Accordingly, Jupiter's orbit appears almost stationary as the pink ellipse at top left.Mars's motion is orange, and the Earth–Moon system is blue and white.
From Pallas, the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth can occasionally appear totransit, or pass in front of, the Sun. Earth last did so in 1968 and 1998, and will next transit in 2224. Mercury did in October 2009. The last and next by Venus are in 1677 and 2123, and for Mars they are in 1597 and 2759.[46]
Relative sizes of the four largest asteroids. Pallas is second from right.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Both Vesta and Pallas have assumed the title of second-largest asteroid from time to time.[47] At513±3 km in diameter,[9] Pallas is slightly smaller than Vesta (525.4±0.2 km[48]). The mass of Pallas is79%±1% that of Vesta,22% that of Ceres, and a quarter of one percent that of theMoon.
Pallas is farther from Earth and has a much lower albedo than Vesta, and hence is dimmer as seen from Earth. Indeed, the much smaller asteroid7 Iris marginally exceeds Pallas in mean opposition magnitude.[49] Pallas's mean oppositionmagnitude is +8.0, which is well within the range of 10×50binoculars, but, unlike Ceres and Vesta, it will require more-powerful optical aid to view at smallelongations, when its magnitude can drop as low as +10.6. During rare perihelic oppositions, Pallas can reach a magnitude of +6.4, right on the edge of naked-eye visibility.[17] During late February 2014 Pallas shone with magnitude 6.96.[h]
Pallas is aB-type asteroid.[10] Based on spectroscopic observations, the primary component of the material on Pallas's surface is a silicate containing little iron and water. Minerals of this type includeolivine andpyroxene, which are found inCM chondrules.[50] The surface composition of Pallas is very similar to the Renazzocarbonaceous chondrite (CR) meteorites, which are even lower in hydrous minerals than the CM type.[51] The Renazzo meteorite was discovered in Italy in 1824 and is one of the most primitive meteorites known.[52][i] Pallas's visible and near-infrared spectrum is almost flat, being slightly brighter in towards the blue. There is only one clear absorption band in the 3-micron part, which suggests an anhydrous component mixed with hydrated CM-like silicates.[10]
Pallas's surface is most likely composed of asilicate material; its spectrum and calculated density (2.89±0.08 g/cm3) correspond toCM chondrite meteorites (2.90±0.08 g/cm3), suggesting a mineral composition similar to that of Ceres, but significantly less hydrated.
To within observational limits, Pallas appears to be saturated with craters. Its high inclination and eccentricity means that average impacts are much more energetic than on Vesta or Ceres (with on average twice their velocity), meaning that smaller (and thus more common) impactors can create equivalently sized craters. Indeed, Pallas appears to have many more large craters than either Vesta or Ceres, with craters larger than 40 km covering at least 9% of its surface.[9]
Pallas's shape departs significantly from the dimensions of an equilibrium body at its current rotational period, indicating that it is not a dwarf planet.[10] It's possible that a suspected large impact basin at the south pole, which ejected6%±1% of the volume of Pallas (twice the volume of theRheasilvia basin on Vesta), may have increased its inclination and slowed its rotation; the shape of Pallas without such a basin would be close to an equilibrium shape for a 6.2-hour rotational period.[9] A smaller crater near the equator is associated with thePalladian family of asteroids.[9]
Pallas probably has a quite homogeneous interior. The close match between Pallas and CM chondrites suggests that they formed in the same era and that the interior of Pallas never reached the temperature (≈820 K) needed to dehydrate silicates, which would be necessary to differentiate a dry silicate core beneath a hydrated mantle. Thus Pallas should be rather homogeneous in composition, though some upward flow of water could have occurred since. Such a migration of water to the surface would have left salt deposits, potentially explaining Pallas's relatively high albedo. Indeed, one bright spot is reminiscent of those found on Ceres. Although other explanations for the bright spot are possible (e.g. a recent ejecta blanket), if the near-Earth asteroid3200 Phaethon is an ejected piece of Pallas, as some have theorized, then a Palladian surface enriched in salts would explain the sodium abundance in theGeminid meteor shower caused by Phaethon.[9]
Besides one bright spot in the southern hemisphere, the only surface features identified on Pallas are craters. As of 2020, 36 craters have been identified, 34 of which are larger than 40 km in diameter. Provisional names have been provided for some of them. The craters are named after ancient weapons.[9]
A small moon about 1 kilometer in diameter was suggested based on occultation data from 29 May 1978. In 1980,speckle interferometry suggested a much larger satellite, whose existence was refuted a few years later with occultation data.[53]
Pallas itself has never been visited by spacecraft. Proposals have been made in the past though none have come to fruition. A flyby of theDawn probe's visits to4 Vesta and1 Ceres was discussed but was not possible due to the high orbital inclination of Pallas.[54][55] The proposedAthena SmallSat mission would have been launched in 2022 as a secondary payload of thePsyche mission and travel on separate trajectory to aflyby encounter with 2 Pallas,[56][57] though was not funded due to being outcompeted by other mission concepts such as theTransOrbital Trailblazer Lunar Orbiter. The authors of the proposal cited Pallas as the "largest unexplored" main-belt protoplanet.[58][59]
^The craters covering Pallas, here only faintly discernible, are likely to look much sharper if the view were closer, as can be seen inthis comparison of VLT andDawn images of 4 Vesta.
^Flattening derived from the maximum aspect ratio (c/a):, where (c/a) =0.79±0.03.[11]
^abCalculated using the known dimensions assuming anellipsoid.[12]
^The one exception internationally to the use of the Greek stem for the name of the asteroid is Chinese, in which it is known as智神星 (Zhìshénxīng), the 'wisdom-god star'.
^abcdP. Vernazza et al. (2021) VLT/SPHERE imaging survey of the largest main-belt asteroids: Final results and synthesis.Astronomy & Astrophysics 54, A56
^Kozai, Yoshihide (29 November – 3 December 1993). "Kiyotsugu Hirayama and His Families of Asteroids (invited)".Proceedings of the International Conference. Sagamihara, Japan: Astronomical Society of the Pacific.Bibcode:1994ASPC...63....1K.
^Pitjeva, E. V. (2004). "Estimations of masses of the largest asteroids and the main asteroid belt from ranging to planets, Mars orbiters and landers".35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 18–25 July 2004, in Paris, France. p. 2014.Bibcode:2004cosp...35.2014P.
^Schmidt, B.E.; Thomas, P.C.; Bauer, J.M.; Li, J.-Y.; McFadden, L.A.; Parker, J.M.; Rivkin, A.S.; Russell, C.T.; Stern, S.A. (2008)."Hubble takes a look at Pallas: Shape, size, and surface"(PDF).39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX). Held 10–14 March 2008, in League City, Texas.1391 (1391): 2502.Bibcode:2008LPI....39.2502S.Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved24 August 2008.
^Dietrich, Thomas (2005).The Origin of Culture and Civilization: The Cosmological Philosophy of the Ancient Worldview Regarding Myth, Astrology, Science, and Religion. Turnkey Press. p. 178.ISBN978-0-9764981-6-2.
^Feierberg, M. A.; Larson, H. P.; Lebofsky, L. A. (1982). "The 3 Micron Spectrum of Asteroid 2 Pallas".Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society.14: 719.Bibcode:1982BAAS...14..719F.
^Perozzi, Ettore; Rossi, Alessandro; Valsecchi, Giovanni B. (2001). "Basic targeting strategies for rendezvous and flyby missions to the near-Earth asteroids".Planetary and Space Science.49 (1):3–22.Bibcode:2001P&SS...49....3P.doi:10.1016/S0032-0633(00)00124-0.
^Athena: the first-ever encounter of (2) Pallas with a Smallsat. J. G. O'Rourke, J. Castillo-Rogez, L. T. Elkins-Tanton, R. R. Fu, T. N. Harrison, S. Marchi, R. Park, B. E. Schmidt, D. A. Williams, C. C. Seybold, R. N. Schindhelm, J. D. Weinberg. 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2132).
^Gingerich, Owen (16 August 2006)."The Path to Defining Planets"(PDF).Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and IAU EC Planet Definition Committee chair. p. 4.Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved13 March 2007.
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![Objects considered for dwarf planet status under the IAU's 2006 draft proposal on the definition of a planet.[60] Pallas is second from the right, bottom row.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aIau_dozen.jpg)
