| Minorplanet: | yes |
| 1864 Daedalus | |
| Background: |
|
| Discovered: | 24 March 1971 |
| Mpc Name: | (1864) Daedalus |
| Alt Names: | 1971 FA |
| Epoch: | 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) |
| Uncertainty: | 0 |
| Observation Arc: | 46.14 yr (16,854 days) |
| Perihelion: | 0.5634 AU |
| Semimajor: | 1.4610 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.6144 |
| Period: | 1.77 yr (645 days) |
| Mean Motion: | / day |
| Inclination: | 22.211° |
| Asc Node: | 6.6379° |
| Arg Peri: | 325.64° |
| Moid: | 0.2693 AU |
| Dimensions: | km 3.00 km km |
| Rotation: | h h h |
| Albedo: | 0.20 |
| Spectral Type: | SqS B–V = 0.830 U–B = 0.500 |
| Abs Magnitude: | 14.8514.98 |
1864 Daedalus, provisional designation, is a stony asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 March 1971, by Dutch–American astronomer Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory, California, and named after Daedalus from Greek mythology.
Daedalus is a member of the Apollo asteroids, a group of near-Earth object with an Earth-crossing orbit. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 0.6–2.4 AU once every 1 years and 9 months (645 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.61 and an inclination of 22° with respect to the ecliptic. It has an Earth Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.2693 AU.
Daedalus is a stony asteroid, characterized as an SQ and Sr spectral type in the Tholen and SMASS taxonomy.
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, it measures 2.7 and 3.7 kilometers in diameter, respectively, and its surface has an albedo of 0.273. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and derives a diameter of 3.0 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 14.98.
Several rotational lightcurves of Daedalus were obtained by astronomers Tom Gehrels, Petr Pravec and Brian Warner. Lightcurve analysis gave a concurring rotation period of 8.572 hours with a high brightness variation of 0.85–1.04 magnitude, indicating a non-spheroidal shape .
This minor planet was named after the Greek mythological figure Daedalus, the builder of King Minos labyrinth, who was subsequently imprisoned there with his son Icarus. They escaped on wings of feathers and wax, but whereas Icarus was drowned when the wax in his wings melted, Daedalus went on to Sicily and built there a temple to Apollo. There is also a lunar crater called Daedalus. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 December 1974 .