2100 Ra-Shalom
Encyclopedia
The asteroid
2100 Ra-Shalom was discovered in 1978 by Eleanor F. Helin
. It was the second asteroid in the Aten class
, after the discovery of 2062 Aten
in 1976, also by Helin. The Atens have a semi-major axis
of less than 1 AU
; of the Atens, Ra-Shalom is one of the asteroids with the smallest semi-major axes: just 0.832 AU. It comes within 30 Gm of Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The closest approaches are to Mercury, to about 0.0784 AU (11.7 Gm).
The name of the asteroid, which refers to the Egypt
ian god Ra
and the Hebrew
word Shalom
, refers to the Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel
.
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...
2100 Ra-Shalom was discovered in 1978 by Eleanor F. Helin
Eleanor F. Helin
Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin...
. It was the second asteroid in the Aten class
Aten asteroid
The Aten asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after the first of the group to be discovered . They are defined by having semi-major axes of less than one astronomical unit...
, after the discovery of 2062 Aten
2062 Aten
2062 Aten is an asteroid that was discovered at the Palomar Mountain Observatory by Eleanor F. Helin, who is now the principal scientist for the NEAT project. It is named after Aten, the Egyptian god of the sun....
in 1976, also by Helin. The Atens have a semi-major axis
Semi-major axis
The major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape...
of less than 1 AU
Astronomical unit
An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
; of the Atens, Ra-Shalom is one of the asteroids with the smallest semi-major axes: just 0.832 AU. It comes within 30 Gm of Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The closest approaches are to Mercury, to about 0.0784 AU (11.7 Gm).
The name of the asteroid, which refers to the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian god Ra
Ra
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
and the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
word Shalom
Shalom
Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye...
, refers to the Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Orbital data
epoch J2000.0- semimajor axis: 0.832 AU
- perihelion 0.441 AU
- aphelion 3.307 AU
- eccentricity: 0.437
- inclination : 15.751 degree
- longitude of perihelion: 355.983 degree
- longitude of ascending node: 170.917 degree