87 Sylvia
|
|
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Norman Robert Pogson |
| Discovery date | May 16, 1866 |
| Designations | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsɪlviə/ SIL-vee-ə |
| A909 GA | |
| Outer main belt (Cybele) | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5) | |
| Aphelion | 3.768 AU (563.679 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 3.213 AU (480.594 Gm) |
| 3.490 AU (522.137 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.080 |
| 6.52 a (2381.697 d) | |
|
Average orbital speed
|
15.94 km/s |
| 352.763° | |
| Inclination | 10.855° |
| 73.342° | |
| 266.195° | |
| Known satellites | 2 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | (384×262×232)±10 km 286 km (mean) 385×265×230 ± 10 km |
| Mass | 1.478±0.006×1019 kg |
|
Mean density
|
1.2 ± 0.1 g/cm3 |
| 0.0729 m/s2 | |
| 0.1379 km/s | |
| 0.2160 d (5.183642 h) | |
| Albedo | 0.0435 |
| Temperature | ~151 K max: 223 K (−52°C) |
|
Spectral type
|
X |
| 6.94 | |
87 Sylvia is the 8th-largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. It is a member of the Cybele group located beyond the core of the belt (see minor-planet groups). Sylvia is the first asteroid known to possess more than one moon.
Sylvia was discovered by N. R. Pogson on May 16, 1866 from Madras (Chennai), India. A. Paluzie-Borrell, writing in Paul Erget's The Names of the Minor Planets (1955), mistakenly states that the name honours Sylvie Petiaux-Hugo Flammarion, the first wife of astronomer Camille Flammarion. In fact, in the article announcing the discovery of the asteroid, Pogson explained that he selected the name in reference to Rhea Silvia, mother of Romulus and Remus (MNRAS, 1866).
Sylvia is very dark in color and probably has a very primitive composition. The discovery of its moons made possible an accurate measurement of the asteroid's mass and density. Its density was found to be very low (around 1.2 times the density of water), indicating that the asteroid is porous to very porous; from 25% to as much as 60% of it may be empty space, depending on the details of its composition. However, the mineralogy of the X-type asteroids is not known well enough to constrain this further. Either way, this suggests a loose rubble pile structure. Sylvia is also a fairly fast rotator, turning about its axis every 5.18 hours (giving an equatorial rotation velocity of about 230 km/h or 145 mph). The short axis is the rotation axis. Direct images indicate that Sylvia's pole points towards ecliptic coordinates (β, λ) = (+62.6°, 72.4°) with only a 0.5° uncertainty, which gives it an axial tilt of around 29.1°. Sylvia's shape is strongly elongated.
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