Satellite System
Sylvia has two orbiting satellites. They have been named (87) Sylvia I Romulus and (87) Sylvia II Remus, after Romulus and Remus, the children of the mythological Rhea Silvia.
Romulus, the first moon, was discovered on February 18, 2001 from the Keck II telescope by Michael E. Brown and Jean-Luc Margot. Remus, the second moon, was discovered over three years later on August 9, 2004 by Franck Marchis of UC Berkeley, and Pascal Descamps, Daniel Hestroffer, and Jérôme Berthier of the Observatoire de Paris, France.
The orbital properties of the satellites are listed in this table. The orbital planes of both satellites and the equatorial plane of the primary asteroid are all well-aligned; all planes are aligned within about 1 degree of each other, suggestive of satellite formation in or near the equatorial plane of the primary.
| Name | Mass | Semi-major Axis | Orbital Period | Eccentricity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remus | 7.3×1014 | 706.5 | 1.37 | 0.027 |
| Romulus | 9.3×1014 | 1357 | 3.65 | 0.006 |
Read more about this topic: 87 Sylvia
Famous quotes containing the words satellite and/or system:
“Books are the best things, well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? What is the one end, which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspire. I had better never see a book, than to be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)