(216) Kleopatra

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(216 ) Cleopatra is one of the main asteroid belt asteroid, which was discovered on April 10, 1880 by Johann Palisa. Of the heavenly bodies was named after the ancient Egyptian ruler Cleopatra.

Cleopatra is between 2.0892 ( perihelion ) astronomical units to 3.4979 astronomical units ( aphelion ) on an eccentric orbit around the sun. The orbit is inclined 13.1346 ° to the ecliptic, the orbital eccentricity is 0.2521.

Radar observations have shown that Cleopatra is an irregular celestial body remembers its elongated shape of a dog bone. With dimensions of 217 × 94 × 81 km ( ± 25 %), it is one of the largest asteroids of the main belt. Due to the strong reflection of the radio waves is concluded that it is in Cleopatra to a differentiated asteroid with an iron - nickel core, a silicate mantle and a silicate crust. The outer surface may be composed of the mineral enstatite, a material of which there is also a group of stone meteorite ( enstatite chondrite ).

In September 2008, two small moons were discovered with 5 or 3 kilometers in diameter. This was in February after the two children of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, named: S/2008 (216 ) 1 Alexhelios and S/2008 (216 ) 2 Cleoselene.