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Astronomers Find Moon Orbiting Asteroid 45 Eugenia




Astronomers Find Moon Orbiting Asteroid
By Greg Clark
Oct 06 1999 14:00:41 ET

For the first time ever, an Earth-based telescope has captured images of a
small moon orbiting an asteroid.

Using the 12-foot (3.6-meter) Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Hawaii's
Mauna Kea volcano, astronomers have discovered and photographed a satellite
circling the asteroid Eugenia. Some 133 miles (215 kilometers) in diameter,
the oblong Eugenia is among the 25 largest bodies in the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter. Its moon is just 8 miles (13 kilometers) across,
and orbits its spinning parent once every four and a half days about 730
miles (2000 kilometers) away from Eugenia, its discoverers say.

Fully story with photos here:

http://www.space.com/science/solarsystem/eugenia_moon991006.html

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