809 Lundia

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809 Lundia
Discovery A
Discoverer Max Wolf
Discovery date August 11, 1915
Alternate
designations
B
1915 XP; 1936 VC
Category Main belt
Orbital elements C
Epoch November 26, 2005 (JD 2453700.5)
Eccentricity (e) 0.193
Semi-major axis (a) 341.556 Gm (2.283 AU)
Perihelion (q) 275.743 Gm (1.843 AU)
Aphelion (Q) 407.368 Gm (2.723 AU)
Orbital period (P) 1260.094 d (3.45 a)
Mean orbital speed 19.53 km/s
Inclination (i) 7.143°
Longitude of the
ascending node
(Ω)
154.685°
Argument of
perihelion
(ω)
196.321°
Mean anomaly (M) 42.298°
Physical characteristics D
Dimensions 7–10 km (estimate) (for each component)
Mass 0.2–2×1015 each (estimate)
Density unknown
Surface gravity 0.001–0.003 m/s² (estimate)
Escape velocity 0.003–0.005 km/s (estimate)
Rotation period unknown
Spectral class V
Absolute magnitude 11.8
Albedo (geometric) unknown
Mean surface
temperature
165-180 K
max: 260-280 K
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809 Lundia is a small, binary, V-type asteroid[1] orbiting within the Flora family in the Main Belt. It is named after Lund Observatory, Sweden.

The V-type spectrum indicates that it is not genetically related to the Flora family, but rather is probably a fragment (actually two fragments) ejected off the surface of nearby 4 Vesta by a large impact in the past. Its orbit lies too far from Vesta for it to actually be a member of the Vesta family It is not clear how it arrived at an orbit so far from Vesta, but other examples of V-type asteroids fairly far from their parent body are known. A mechanism of interplay between the Yarkovsky effect and nonlinear secular resonances (primarily involving Jupiter and Saturn) has been proposed[2]

[edit] Binary

A satellite, designated S/2005 (809) 1, was identified based on lightcurve observations in 2005. In fact, the size of the two components appear to be similar, because during mutual occultations the brightness drops by a similar amount independently of which component is hidden [3]. Assuming an albedo similar to 4 Vesta (around 0.4), suggests that the components are about 7 km across. They orbit each other with a period of 15.4 hours[3], which roughly indicates that the binary is very close — the separation being of the order of 10-20 km, if typical asteroid albedo and density values are assumed.

[edit] References

  1. ^ M. Florczak, D. Lazarro, & R. Duffard (2002). "Discovering New V-Type Asteroids in the Vicinity of 4 Vesta". Icarus 159: 178. doi:10.1006/icar.2002.6913. 
  2. ^ V. Carruba et al (2005). "On the V-type asteroids outside the Vesta family". Astronomy & Astrophysics 441: 819. 
  3. ^ a b Poznań observatory [1] (Lightcurve showing signature of the binary)

[edit] External links