New insights on the origin of the triple asteroid system (87) Sylvia
Friday, October 24, 2014 - 07:30
in Astronomy & Space
Combining observations from the world's largest telescopes with those from smaller instruments used by amateur astronomers, a team of scientists has discovered that the large main-belt asteroid (87) Sylvia has a complex interior. This has been deduced by using the motions of the two moons orbiting the main asteroid as probes of the object's density distribution. The complex structure is probably linked to the way the multiple system was formed.