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87 Sylvia - Definition and Overview |
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87 Sylvia is one of the largest main belt asteroids. It is very dark in color and has probably very primitive composition. It orbits beyond most of the main belt asteroids, so it was classed as one of the Cybeles (See Minor planet groups).
Sylvia was discovered by N. R. Pogson on May 16, 1866 from Madras (Chennai), India. The reason for its name is uncertain; it has been claimed that it honours the first wife of astronomer Camille Flammarion, but there is no strong evidence for this.
A companion of Sylvia was discovered on February 18, 2001 from the Keck II telescope by Mike Brown and Jean-Luc Margot. It is 15 km in diameter and orbits at distance of 1370 km. No official name has been assigned to the satellite yet. [1] (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/07500/07588.html)
The discovery of the satellite made possible an accurate measurement of the mass and density of Sylvia. Its density was found to be very low, indicating that the asteroid is probably very porous.
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