- Remus (moon)
Infobox Planet | discovery=yes | physical_characteristics = yes | bgcolour=#A0FFA0 | minorplanet=yes | width=29em
name=Remus
discovery_ref = [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08500/08582.html IAUC 8582] , announcing the discovery of S/2004 (87) 1 and naming Romulus and Remus.]
discoverer=Franck Marchis ,Pascal Descamps ,Daniel Hestroffer ,Jérôme Berthier
discovered=August 9 ,2004
mp_name=S/2004 (87) 1
mp_category=Main belt (Cybele)
orbit_ref=cite journal|author=F. Marchis et al|title="Discovery of the triple asteroidal system 87 Sylvia"|journal=Nature|volume=436|pages=822|year=2005|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2005Natur.436..822M&db_key=AST&data_type=HTML&format=&high=444b66a47d32268|doi=10.1038/nature04018]
semimajor= 706 ± 5 km
eccentricity= 0.016 ± 0.011
period= 1.3788 ± 0.0007 d
avg_speed=37.2 m/s
inclination= 2.0 ± 1.0°
(with respect to Sylvia equator)
satellite_of =87 Sylvia
dimensions= 7 ± 2 km Assuming the same albedo as Sylvia]
mass= ~ 2e|14 kg "(estimate)" Assuming same density and albedo as Sylvia]
escape_velocity= ~ 4 m/s "(estimate)"
rotation = unknown, probably synchronous Based on a rough tidal locking timescale of several tens of My.]
axial_tilt = unknown, zero expected
abs_magnitude= 11.1Remus is the inner and smaller moon of the
main belt asteroid 87 Sylvia . It follows an almost-circular close-to-equatorial orbit around the parent asteroid. In this respect it is similar to the other moon Romulus.Remus was discovered several years after Romulus on images taken starting on
August 9 ,2004 and announced onAugust 10 ,2005 . It was discovered byFranck Marchis ofUC Berkeley , andPascal Descamps ,Daniel Hestroffer , andJérôme Berthier of theObservatoire de Paris , France, using the Yepun telescope of theEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO) inChile . Marchis, the project leader, was waiting for the completion of the image acquisition programme before starting to process the data. Just as he was set togo on vacation in March 2005, Descamps sent him a brief note entitled "87 Sylvia est triple ?" pointing out that he could see two moonlets on several images of Sylvia. The entire team then focused quickly on analysis of the data, wrote a paper, submitted an abstract to the August meeting in Rio de Janeiro and submitted a naming proposal to the IAU.Its full designation is (87) Sylvia II Remus; before receiving its name, it was known as S/2004 (87) 1 .The moon is named after Remus, twin of the mythological founder of
Rome , one of the children ofRhea Silvia raised by a wolf.87 Sylvia, has a low density, which indicates that it is likely a
rubble pile asteroid formed when debris from a collision between its parent body and another asteroid re-accreted gravitationally. It is likely then, that both Remus and Romulus are smaller rubble piles which accreted in orbit around the main body from debris of the same collision. In this case their albedo and density are expected to be similar to Sylvia's .Remus' orbit is expected to be quite stable − it lies far inside Sylvia's
Hill sphere (about 1/100 of Sylvia'sHill radius ), but also far outside thesynchronous orbit .From Remus' surface, Sylvia appears huge, taking up an angular region roughly 30°×18° across, while Romulus' apparent size varies between 1.6° and 0.5° across.
ee also
*
Romulus (moon) References
External links
* [http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/astmoons/am-00087.html Data on (87) Sylvia from Johnston's archive] (maintained by W. R. Johnston)
*" [http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/pr-21-05.html Rubble-Pile Minor Planet Sylvia and Her Twins] " (ESO news release, August 2005) Includes images and artists impressions
* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08500/08582.html IAUC 8582] , reporting discovery of S/2004 (87) 1 and naming Romulus and Remus
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