Asbolus
8405 Asbolus is a centaur orbiting in the outer Solar System between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. It was discovered on 5 April 1995, by James Scotti and Robert Jedicke of Spacewatch at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, United States. It is named after Asbolus, a centaur in Greek mythology.
This morning on El Capitan these superheroes clocked a time of 1:58:07! In this outrageous @austin_siadak image, the techniques used to climb so fast are apparent - it's not your average day at the crag.
Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell set a sub-two-hour speed record climbing the Nose on El Cap today-they clocked in at 1:58:07. This is their third record in a week on the Nose. The first, on March 31, was 2:10:15. Then on June 4, they nabbed 2:01:50.
Sun (men, bold, vitality, strength) conjunct Mercury (agile, speedy) conjunct Asbolus (intrepid, courageous, motivated to reach the top, mountain climbing - specifically in the face of obvious danger) sextile Praamzius (timeliness, friends, good friend).
Today, June 6, they did what Alex always thought was possible, the sub-two-hour speed climb of the Nose-here is the announcement from Reel Rock. That's "running" up 3,000 vertical feel in less than two hours.
On the morning of the most recent attempt, Florine (who had two broken ankles), Reynolds, and Gobright were all in attendance to cheer Honnold and Caldwell up the route, taking group photos together beforehand, and joking around like the respected friends and colleagues that they all were. It marked the first time in El Cap history that two pairs of prior record holders (Honnold is included) came to witness the torch being passed.
Octopuses can be trained to do many things, but this one may be getting too much credit.
What's got eight arms, shoots pictures underwater, and lives in New Zealand? Answer: Rambo, a female octopus in a New Zealand aquarium that trainers have taught to photograph visitors using a waterproof digital camera mounted to the side of her tank. A Sony video that went viral this week shows fans eagerly posing for her.
Sun (men (animal behaviorist Mark Vette trains animals for film and television)) trine Pholus (food and drink (used food rewards to teach the octopus to press the camera's shutter in response to a buzzer) conjunct Pelion (merits, medals and certificates (photograph visitors)). Venus (adaptation) conjunct Asbolus (extreme sense of smell).
Animal behaviorist Mark Vette, with Animals on Q—a New Zealand company that trains animals for film and television—used food rewards to teach the octopus to press the camera's shutter in response to a buzzer. She picked up the task fairly quickly, he says, but in living up to her action-star-name, Rambo also destroyed two cameras.
Teaching her to associate the buzzer with a food reward was easier; that only took three tries, Vette says. He was then able to teach Rambo that the buzzer meant she had to take a picture before she could be fed.
Discovery
1995 GO/8405 Asbolus is a centaur orbiting between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. It was discovered by James Scotti and Robert Jedicke of Spacewatch at Kitt Peak Observatory on April 5, 1995. It is named after Asbolus (Greek for sooty), a centaur in Greek mythology.
Centaurs have short dynamical lifetimes due to perturbations by the giant planets. Asbolus is estimated to have an orbital half-life of about 860 kiloannum. Asbolus is currently classified as a SN centaur since Saturn is considered to control the perihelion and Neptune controls the aphelion. Asbolus currently has a perihelion (q) of 6.8AU, so is also influenced by Jupiter.
Centaurs with a perihelion less than 6.6AU are very strongly influenced by Jupiter and for classification purposes are considered to have a perihelion under the control of Jupiter. In about ten thousand years, clones of the orbit of Asbolus suggest that its perihelion classification may come under the control of Jupiter.
