809 Lundia - Binary System

Binary System

Lightcurve observations in 2005 revealed that Lundia is a binary system of two similarly sized objects orbiting their common centre of gravity. "Lundia" now refers to one of the objects, the other being provisionally designated S/2005 (809) 1. The similarity of size between the two components is suspected because during mutual occultations the brightness drops by a similar amount independently of which component is hidden. Due to the similar size of the primary and secondary the Minor Planet Center lists this as a binary companion.

Assuming an albedo similar to 4 Vesta (around 0.4) suggests that the components are about 7 km across. They orbit each other in a period of 15.4 hours, which roughly indicates that the separation between them is very close: to the order of 10–20 km if typical asteroid albedo and density values are assumed.

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