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1810 Epimetheus, also designated 4196 P–L, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt. It measures about 8 kilometers in diameter and is a member of the Flora family of asteroids.〔〔 ''Epimetheus'' was discovered on September 24, 1960 by the Dutch and Dutch–American astronomers Cornelis van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory near Pauma Valley in California.〔 The S-type asteroid has an albedo of .〔 It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.0–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,211 days). Two different light-curve measurements gave a period of the body's rotation of 10.9 and 28.6 hours, respectively.〔 The designation ''P–L'' stands for ''Palomar–Leiden'', named after Palomar Observatory and Leiden Observatory, which collaborated on the fruitful Palomar–Leiden survey in the 1960s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld at Leiden Observatory. The trio are credited with several thousand asteroid discoveries. The asteroid is named after the Titan in Greek mythology, Epimetheus, who opened Pandora's box, which contained all the illnesses and ailments of mankind ''(also see 55 Pandora)''. The name is also given to a moon of Saturn, Epimetheus (moon), discovered by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980. Epimetheus is the brother of Prometheus after which the minor planet 1809 Prometheus was named.〔 == Notes == }} 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1810 Epimetheus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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