(5335) Damocles

(5335) Damocles ( dr. Greek Δαμοκλῆς ) is a small asteroid from the centaur group, which is characterized by a strongly inclined orbit with high eccentricity, on the basis of which some scientists distinguish them into a special group of asteroids - damocloids , which are supposedly inactive nuclei of comets. It was discovered on February 18, 1991 by the Australian astronomer Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory and named after Damocles, a character in the ancient Greek myth of Damocles' sword , a symbol of the impending constant threat, designed to show the impermanence of power, with apparent apparent prosperity ^[1] .

• Orbit of the asteroid Damocles and its position in the solar system
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After studying this object, it turned out that its orbit is very different from the orbits of all previously discovered small bodies of the solar system : at the point of its perihelion (5335), Damocles crossed the orbit of Mars , and in aphelion left behind the orbit of Uranus ^[2] . The stability of this orbit is justified primarily by its high inclination to the ecliptic plane, near which are the orbits of giant planets , which greatly reduces the force of gravitational perturbations into this orbit from their side. However, a group of British astronomers, including Duncan Steel, Gerhard Hahn, Mark Bailey, and David J. Asher, succeeded in calculating the long-term dynamic evolution of this body. establish that there is a high probability of a given body moving into an orbit crossing the Earth’s orbit , and this will already create a real threat of its collision with our planet. This is partly why (5335) Damocles got this name. And later, other asteroids with similar orbits were discovered, which some astronomers began to allocate in a separate group.

There is an assumption that it is (5335) Damocles that can be the source of the meteor shower in the constellation of the dragon on Mars ^[3] .