114 Kassandra
Encyclopedia
114 Kassandra is a large and dark main-belt asteroid
. It belongs to the rare class T
. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters
on July 23, 1871, and is named after Cassandra
, the prophetess in the tales of the Trojan War
. The asteroid is featured in the 2009 film Meteor: Path to Destruction, in which it is split in two by a comet, and set on a collision course with Earth.
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
. It belongs to the rare class T
T-type asteroid
T-type asteroids are rare inner-belt asteroids of unknown composition with dark, featureless and moderately red spectra, and a moderate absorption feature shortwards of 0.85 µm. No direct meteorite analog has been found to date. Thought to be anhydrous, they are believed to be related to...
. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters
Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters
Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters was a German-American astronomer, and one of the first to discover asteroids....
on July 23, 1871, and is named after Cassandra
Cassandra
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy...
, the prophetess in the tales of the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. The asteroid is featured in the 2009 film Meteor: Path to Destruction, in which it is split in two by a comet, and set on a collision course with Earth.