The Asteroid Mathilde Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
An asteroid :) . This is a cache in a series that represents a
scale model of the solar system at 66 million to one scale. The
inner dome of the Adler Planetatrium represents the surface of The
Sun.
This cache represents the asteroid Mathilde.
253 Mathilde is a main belt asteroid that was discovered by Johann
Palisa in 1885. It has a relatively elliptical orbit that requires
more than four years to circle the Sun. This asteroid has an
unusually slow rate of rotation, requiring 17.4 days to complete a
360° revolution about its axis. It is a primitive C-type asteroid,
which means the surface has a high proportion of carbon; giving it
a dark surface that reflects only 4% of the light that falls on
it.
NASA image of 253 Mathilde
This asteroid was visited by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft during
June 1997, on its way to asteroid 433 Eros. The spacecraft imaged a
hemisphere of the asteroid, revealing many large craters that have
gouged out depressions in the surface. It is currently the largest
asteroid to be visited by a spacecraft, and the first C-type
asteroid to be so explored.
Info from and more available at Wikipedia and here.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Yrsg cbyr ba I