(8373) Stephengould, keeping the faith, in spite of the circumstances

(8373) Stephengould is a centaur discovered in January of 1992.

The orbit is between Mars and Jupiter. It has a perihelion of 1.45 AU and an aphelion of 5.09 AU. The semimajor axis is at 3.27 AU. It has an orbital period of 5 years and 343 days. It has an inclination of 40.7º (nonile, 0º48' orb). It has a diameter of about 5.3 km.

A satellite of (8373) Stephengould, of about 1.4 km, was discoveredin January ofse descubrió en enero de 2010 y se anunció en marzo de 2010.

Orbital resonance:
2:1 with Jupiter (99.8%)
6:19 with Mars (99.7%)
-
11:18 with Vesta (99.9%)
11:15 with Juno (99.8%)
7:9 with Ceres-Pallas (99.6%)
9:10 with Interamnia (99.9%)
7:9 with Herculina (99.9%)
11:12 with Europa (99.9%)
12:11 with Sylvia (99.8%)
13:18 with Eunomia (99.8%)
 

Relevant character

The greatest contribution of Stephen Jay Gould (10/09/1941) to the science was the theory of 'punctuated equilibrium', which he developed together with Niles Eldredge in 1972, and which proposes that most processes of biological evolution are characterized by long periods of evolutionary stability, wich is infrequently punctuated by swift periods of branching evolution.

At age 40, he was diagnosed with a cancer (peritoneal mesothelioma), which affects the abdominal lining and that is often found in people who have been exposed to asbestos. After a dificult two-years recovery, Gould published an article entitled «The median isn't the message», in which he explains his reaction to discovering that patients with this type of cancer had a median mortality of only eight months after diagnosed; and this relief upon realizing that statistical averages are useful abstractions, but do not cover the full range of possibilities, since some patients last longer and others survive. To determine where he was within the set of possibilities, he took into account the fact that the disease was detected early, that he was young, optimistic, and had the best treatments available. Thus, he assumed that he was in the favorable half of the upper statistical range.

After an experimental treatment of radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery, Gould made a full recovery and his article became a source of inspiration for many other cancer patients.

(8373) Stephengould is related with situations in which faith is kept, despite the initial impossibility to act (2:1 resonance with Jupiter; 7:9 resonance with Ceres-Pallas), like Sarah Connor at the beginning of the movie "Terminator 2 - Judgment Day" (1991).

"The Lovely Bones" (2009)

(46) Hestia, yoga and feng shui

(46) Hestia is a main belt asteroid discovered in August of 1857. It was spotted without being identified in March of 1935.

The orbit is located in the central region of the main belt. It has a perihelion of 2.09 AU and an aphelion of 2.95 AU. The semimajor axis is at 2.52 AU. It has an orbital period of 4 years and 3 days. It has an inclination of 2.3º. It has a diameter of about 124 km.

Photometric observations were made between the years 1980-1985 and in the years 1997, 2000 and 2012. There were star occultations in May of 2005, March and August of 2006 and June of 2009.

Orbital resonance:
1:4 with Earth-Moon (99.7%)
22:3 with Saturn (99.8%)
-
4:3 with Interamnia (99.9%)
7:5 with Davida (99.8%)
12:11 with Juno (99.7%)
19:12 with Cybele (99.9%)


Greek mythology

Hestia was the goddess of hearth.

(46) Hestia is related with puting in order the home and creating a peaceful atmosphere. It is particularly important in times of change of housing, when the boxes are unpacked and it is decided were to put each thing (1:4 resonance with the Earth-Moon system).

(46) Hestia is also related with yoga, were stretching are keep up in fixed positions (1:4 resonance with the Earth-Moon system).

In the year 1996 appeared the album "Kitaro's world of music featuring Nawang Khechog", that recreates the ambient of a Buddhist monastery.

L.S.G. "Blueprint (version 2)" [VA-Trance Hystory-Part 4: Milestones]

(571) Dulcinea, meeting in person

(571) Dulcinea is a main belt asteroid discovered in September of 1905. It was spotted without being identified in December of 1904.

The orbit is in the central region of the main belt. It has a perihelion of 1.82 AU and an aphelion of 2.99 AU. The semimajor axis is at 2.41 AU. It has an orbital period of 3 years and 270 days. It has an inclination of 5.2º. It has a diameter of about 11 km.

There were star occultation in August of 2002 and March of 2015.

Orbital resonance:
19:6 with Jupiter (99.8%)
4:15 with Earth-Moon (99.7%)
-
7:6 with Juno (99.9%)
16:13 with Ceres-Pallas (99.9%)
3:2 with Davida (99.7%)


Spanish literature

In the book "Don Quixote of La Mancha" of Miguel de Cervantes, Dulcinea del Toboso was the lady to whom Don Quixote aspired platonically.

(571) Dulcinea is related with meeting in person through an interview or a date/appointment, like in the movies "The Life of David Gale" (2002), "The Sum of All Fears" (2002) and "Dark Places" (2015).

(762) Pulcova, fashions and viral phenomena

(762) Pulcova is a main belt asteroid discovered in September of 1913. It was spotted without being identified in August of 1913 and August of 1952.

The orbit it is located in the outer main belt. It has a perihelion of 2.82 AU and an aphelion of 3.47 AU. The semimajor axis is at 3.15 AU. It has an orbital period of 5 years and 219 days. It has an inclination of  13.0º. It has a diameter of about 142 km. There are photometric observations in the year 2008.

A satellite of (762) Pulcova, with about 19 km, was discovered in February of 2000 and anounced in October of 2000.

Orbital resonance:
21:4 with Saturn (99.8%)
17:8 with Jupiter (99.6%)
-
7:9 with Juno (99.8%)
11:17 with Vesta (99.8%)


Astronomical observatory

(762) Pulcova was named after Pulkovo Observatory, near Saint Petersburg. 

In the elementary school where I studied, there was always a topic that becomed a fashion for everyone, it could be a trading cards colection, games, marbles or searching for quartz. However, when I turned nine years old, all that disappeared, because the total number of children in the school break for playtime was reduced when an additional school was opened in the municipality, were half of the students moved.

"A colony of ants is able to perform tasks of great complexity, as exploring its environment, building galleries, or decide the source of food between two possible choices. Pero, consideradas una por una, ninguna puede acometer, por sí sola, semejantes tareas, decimos que el comportamiento social del hormiguero emerge a partir de interaciones entre hormigas y no es reducible a las propiedades de un individuo de la colonia. But, taken one by one, none of them can undertake, by itself, such tasks, we say that the social behavior of the ant's nest emerges from interactions between ants and is not reducible to the properties of an individual of the colony. The same applies to the brain and the neurons that form it or to an ecosystem and the species that form it.

There is a critical density of ants, in which the system behaves as a whole, half way between order and disorder. If we try to modify their environment so to increase its density, the colony redefines its borders (hoarding close material) to return to its natural density." (translated to English from Spanish version of "New Scientist", May 1996)

"The Quiet Man" (1952)

(762) Pulcova is related with fashions, viral phenomena and gossip that expand collectively (11:17 resonance with Vesta), like in the movies "The Quiet Man" (1952) and "Malena" (2000).

"Malena" (2000)

(1247) Memoria, list of unsettled tasks

(1247) Memoria is a main belt asteroid discovered in August of 1932. It was spotted without being identified in November of 1905, October of 1927, May of 1931 and March of 1936.

The orbit is located at the outter main belt. It has a perihelion of 2.58 AU and an aphelion of 3.67 AU. The semimajor axis is at 3.13 AU. It has an orbital period of 5 years and 200 days. It has an inclination of 1.7º. It has a diameter of about 36 km.
 
Orbital resonance: 
1:23 with Mercury (99.9%)
1:9 with Venus (99.8%)
15:7 with Jupiter (99.8%)
-
5:6 with Pallas (99.9%)
11:14 with Juno (99.9%)
5:6 with Herculina (%100.0%)
 

Word from Latin

Memoria is a word in Latin, which is traslated as 'memory' and refers to several meanings related with the asteroid (1247) Memoria:

1.  Psychic faculty through which the past is retained and recalled.
2.  Remembrance that is made or warning that is given of something from the past.
3.  Book, Notebook or paper in wich something is write down to bear it in mind.
4.  Two or more rings that are brought in and placed as remembrance and reminder for the implementation of something, releasing one of them to hang over the finger.

(1247) Memoria is related with the list of unsettled tasks, that are keeped in mind to carry them out when there is time or the moment is right.

The most relevant of the asteroid (1247) Memoria is its ability to distribute in a balanced way the tasks and activities of the daily routine (1:23 resonance with Mercury).