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.
Read more about this topic: 809 Lundia
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“UG [universal grammar] may be regarded as a characterization of the genetically determined language faculty. One may think of this faculty as a ‘language acquisition device,’ an innate component of the human mind that yields a particular language through interaction with present experience, a device that converts experience into a system of knowledge attained: knowledge of one or another language.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)