Icarus
#0327
Old
faithful Icarus has been coming to feed on the banks off Massachusetts
every year since his first recorded sighting in 1982. To
date his lineage is unknown because he was too old to be with
his mother the first time he was photographed. Someday,
when researchers have finished analyzing their biopsy data, a
proper family tree will emerge. When that day comes it will
be very interesting to see exactly how everyone is related to
each other.
Icarus
has an interesting name and an interesting fluke. Take a
good look at his picture. See if you can find the Apollo
class asteroid that he was named after. The name actually has
a double meaning. The Icarus Asteroid is one mile in diameter
and orbits the sun every 409 days. It was discovered back
in 1949. The fact that the asteroid orbit approaches closer
to the sun than the planet Mercury led to its naming. The
original story behind the name Icarus comes from Greek mythology.
Icarus and his father attempted to escape from Crete with
wings of wax and feathers. Unfortunately, Icarus flew so
high and near to the sun, the wax wings melted and the boy plummeted
into the ocean. A second striking feature of this fluke
is the trailing edge. It has a very strange shape to it.
Almost as if it had been melted by the sun.
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