Ceres, asteroid and now first of dwaf planet of our Solar System

Ceres was the first asteroid discovered by the man. But his estatus changed to the dwarf planet category according to the Astronomical Union the International. The 1 of January of 1801 from Palermo (Italy) by Giuseppe Piazzi was discovered (1746-1826), catholic and educating priest, while it worked in the compilation of a stellar catalogue. The object cautious was announced by its discoverer as a comet without cloudiness more than like a new planet. Piazzi baptized it like Ceres Ferdinandea by Ceres, the Roman goddess of the plants and the maternal love and patron of Sicily, and by king Fernando IV of Naples and Sicily, pattern of its work. The Ferdinandea last name was eliminated for political reasons.

This dwarfed planet approximately contains the third part of the total mass of the asteroid belt , this could catalogue it within the dwarfed planet definition according to the rough draft of the Astronomical Union the International of August of 2006. The voting was made the 24 of August of 2006.

The Law of Titius-Bode praised the existence of a planet between Mars and Jupiter. The Uranus discovery by William Herschel in 1781 that was to 19.18 UA did not do more than to before confirm the published law only three years. In the astronomical congress that took place in Gotha, Germany, in 1796, the French Joseph Lalande recommended its search. Between five astronomers they distributed the zodiac in the search of the fifth planet and finally the 1 of January of 1801, in the Observatory of Palermo the monk Giuseppe Piazzi who did not belong to the commission search discovered Ceres first of asteroids. Day 3 of January the body was displaced a third of moon towards the west. Until the 24 it did not publish his discovery thinking that it was a comet. Carl Friedrich Gaussian who got to be a great mathematician specifically invented for Ceres a procedure of calculation of the orbit with so taking advantage of the few data of the orbit obtained by Piazzi. Calculated its orbit was a body that it orbited between Mars and Jupiter.

× has a diameter of 960 932 km and one 1.800.000 surface of km². It is the greater asteroid known in the traditional asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Nevertheless, it is known that the belt of Kuiper contains greater objects, like (28978) Ixión, (50000) Quaoar, 2004 DW and possibly Sedna (although many astronomers think that Sedna is really an object of the Cloud of Oort). Pluto also considers sometimes an object of the belt of Kuiper.

Ceres is unique when being its size and mass sufficient to provide a spherical form to him, of form similar to a planet. One knows that other great asteroids as (3) Juno and (4) Vesta is clearly nonspherical.

With a mass of 8,7×10²⁰ kg, Ceres almost include/understand a third of the considered total mass of asteroids of the Solar System. There are some indications that their surfaces are warm and of which could have a weak atmosphere and freeze

The discovery of the Ceres asteroid I made with the telescope of 90 mm of diameter and 1400 mm of focal length. The first observation I made it to 1h.11m. UT of the 3 of September of 1988, in her, I identified to Ceres in the field.

In order to verify I made it one second observation to 23h.59m. UT of the same day, of which I could observe the displacement of the asteroid on the star field. The scheme that comes next represents observed the these days.

Decimal for the magnitudes of stars have been omitted the points, therefore, a star indicated with 100 his magnitude is 10.0.

He is deduced that the discovery of Ceres corresponds to 1h.11m. UT of the 3 of September of 1988. The orbit of Ceres is little eccentric its value is of 0,0762, orbits between Mars and Jupiter with a period of 4,60 years, the inclination with respect to the eclípitica is of 10.60º.

During the year 2000 Ceres appears in the constellation of Virgo presenting/displaying its opposition at the end of March.

On the other hand, down, by means of a program in Java which I have found in the network, with the courtesy of Osamu Ajiki de AstroArts and Ron Baalke of the JPL, you can see the orbit of the asteroid as well as its distance in relation to the Sun and the Earth and its position with respect to the Solar System for any date.

In classic mythology, Ceres or Khrez, was geniuses daughters at night and sisters of the Moiras. They seem to be, in principle, winged beings, who work like destinies of each man. When they fight Héctor and Aquiles, Zeus weighs the Ceres of each one, to know who is going to die. Weight plus the subject of gossip that has the Ceres de Héctor and the hero dies. Also in the Iliad one is said that two Aquilles has Ceres, that will make him die and however other than will grant one long life to him. At classic time one is confused with the Erinias and the Moiras. They are malignant spirits, causes of all class of misfortunes: blindness, diseases and even, the death, fattening itself in corpses with its long nails. In Athens they offered sacrifice to them to appease them in special celebrations. Although they had of being my represented, is difficult to identify to the Ceres between the figures of the plastic arts. .

Ceres

Goddess of agriculture