Petit-Prince (moon)

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Petit-Prince

Discovery[1] and designation
Discovered by	W. J. Merline, L. M. Close, C. Dumas, C. R. Chapman, F. Roddier, F. Menard, D. C. Slater, G. Duvert, J. C. Shelton, T. Morgan
Discovery date	November 1, 1998
Designations
MPC designation	S/1998 (45) 1
Minor planet category	Main belt
Orbital characteristics[2]
Semi-major axis	1184 ± 12 km
Eccentricity	0.0100 ± 0.0002
Orbital period	4.766 ± 0.001 d
Average orbital speed	18.1 m/s
Inclination	8.0 ± 0.1° (with respect to Eugenia equator)
Satellite of	45 Eugenia
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	~ 13 km (estimate) [3]
Mass	~ 1.2×1015 kg (estimate) [4]
Equatorial escape velocity	~ 5 m/s (estimate)
Absolute magnitude	13.6 [5]

(45) Eugenia I Petit-Prince is an asteroid moon that orbits the larger asteroid 45 Eugenia. It was discovered in 1998 by astronomers at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Initially, it received the provisional designation S/1998 (45) 1.

Petit-Prince was named in 2003 after Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's character The Little Prince, who lives on an asteroid called B612 and was in turn based on the Prince Imperial, son of Empress Eugenia.

Petit-Prince is 13 km in diameter, compared to 45 Eugenia's 214 km. It takes five days to complete an orbit around Eugenia.

Petit-Prince was the first asteroidal moon to be discovered by a ground-based telescope. Previously, the only known moon of an asteroid was Dactyl, discovered by the Galileo space probe around 243 Ida.

[edit] See also

• 2578 Saint-Exupéry
• 46610 Bésixdouze, named B-six-twelve in French (and whose number equals 0xB612)
• 612 Veronika

[edit] References

1. ^ IAUC 7129, announcing the discovery
2. ^ synthesis of several observations, F. Marchis.
3. ^ Assuming the same albedo as Eugenia, then using the difference in absolute magnitude
4. ^ Assuming same density and albedo as Eugenia
5. ^ W.J. Merline at al. (1999). "Discovery of a moon orbiting the asteroid 45 Eugenia". Nature 401: 565. doi:10.1038/44089. 

[edit] External links

• Data sheet compiled by W. Robert Johnston
• IAUC 7503, announcing Petit-Prince's naming
• orbit details compiled by F. Marchis, includes diagrams

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