298 Baptistina is an asteroid orbiting in the asteroid belt. It is the namesake of the Baptistina family. It was discovered on 9 September 1890 by Auguste Charlois of Nice. The source of its name is unknown. It measures about in diameter. Although it has an orbit similar to the Flora family asteroids, it was once considered a possible source of the impactor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, a possibility ruled out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2011.
References
External links , Palmer Divide Observatory, B. D. Warner (2009) Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info ) Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)–(5000) Minor Planet Center