2 Pallas is one of the largest asteroids and is located in the main asteroid belt. It was the second asteroid to be discovered, by astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers on March 28, 1802. Pallas was at first considered a planet, as were the other early asteroids 1 Ceres, 3 Juno, and 4 Vesta, until the discovery of many additional asteroids led to their re-classification.
With a mass estimated to be 7% of the total mass of the asteroid belt,...
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2 Pallas is one of the largest asteroids and is located in the main asteroid belt. It was the second asteroid to be discovered, by astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers on March 28, 1802. Pallas was at first considered a planet, as were the other early asteroids 1 Ceres, 3 Juno, and 4 Vesta, until the discovery of many additional asteroids led to their re-classification.
With a mass estimated to be 7% of the total mass of the asteroid belt, Pallas is one of the largest asteroids. Its diameter is some 550 km, comparable to that of 4 Vesta, but it is 20% less massive, placing it third among the asteroids. The Palladian surface appears to be a silicate material; the surface spectrum and estimated density resemble carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The Palladian orbit, at 34.8°, is unusually highly inclined to the plane of the main asteroid belt, and the orbital eccentricity is nearly as large as that of Pluto, making Pallas relatively inaccessible to spacecraft.
2 Pallas is named...
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